The Keefe Community Center in Hamden hosted its first free community health fair on Saturday, April 13.
The event lasted from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. and had over 20 providers present, offering information about health concerns and benefits including, dental care, nutrition, eyesight, food banks and therapy.
The Keefe Community Center held its first community fair Saturday. (Photo: Ross Lager)
Nancy Juliano, a Hamden resident and member of the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer committee, had her Paint Hamden Pink station to spread awareness for breast cancer.
“Events like these are very important and should happen more often,” Juliano said. “People can learn about breast cancer but I can also spread awareness and grow support for the people and families affected by this disease.”
Attendees had the chance to learn about and seek possible treatments for diseases such as sickle cell anemia, breast cancer and AIDS.
The Quinnipiack Valley Health District, Yale-New Haven Health Hospital and representatives from the Town of Hamden were present, providing information about services for mammograms, diabetes and how to better care for your body.
Nearby universities such as Quinnipiac University, Yale University, the University of Connecticut and Southern Connecticut State University each had a station with student representatives available to speak about topics such as AIDS care, cancer and nutrition.
A food pantry truck was set up for an hour to give away free fresh products such as vegetables, fruit, cold cuts and drinks.
Attendees visit the Connecticut Food Bank truck. (Photo: Ross Lager)
The Community Services Coordinators at the Keefe Center, Y’Isiah Lopes and Anne Marie Karavas, said they believe the first health fair was a success.
“It was a good turnout,” Karavas said. “There were about 160 people here today.”
While attendance numbers are important, Lopes said he is happy to provide services for the community and help any number of people in any way possible.
“As long as we are offering the community something, you can never predict the number,” he said. “We could have had five people or 500. In the end, I can leave happy saying that we provided information and education for those who may need it.”
Lopes explained that this event will serve as a pilot program to help the Keefe Center understand how community members will respond to a health fair and how to better serve their needs for the next one.
He stressed the importance of bringing more awareness to the event as the Keefe Center’s goal is to spread the word as much as possible.
“I think we should work with the faith-based organizations like churches and have them help spread this information to their congregations,” he said.
Lopes said that he and his team have a lot to learn from this event about ways to improve it in future years. He said he hopes to make next year’s event bigger and better.
“We are going to recap from this event, see what we can do better, what we did well and what we can change moving forward,” Lopes said.
Alessandra Sillo, 33 years old, Hamden’s jewelry queen
Owner of William’s Exchange on Whitney Ave.
“It is unimaginable how much stuff people accumulate over the course of time. They just have decades of stuff. So some of it I buy on-site and the other half people just come in with, literally pounds of jewelry. I do knickknacks, I have some toys, but I love jewelry especially Victorian jewelry. I got my degree in English, but I really like the Victorian period in literature. Everything was so lavish and embellished with flowers. It was such a beautiful time. I love that jewelry and unfortunately not everything you can buy is Victorian. So I buy it all. It’s like looking at a piece of history. I like recovering it and learning about it and I’m really lucky to have this opportunity. I’ve always done it as a hobby. I have to admit, it’s hard to sell the jewelry because I want to keep all of it, but I sell most of it. It’s so hard to sell antiques right now. People don’t buy them. I’ve been evolving to see what people like and what they don’t like.”
Bruce Campbell, former National Football League offensive tackle
Hamden native, Bruce Campbell was picked in the tenth round of the 2010 NFL draft to play offensive tackle for the Oakland Raiders. A graduate of Hamden High who played collegiate football at the University of Maryland, Campbell went on to play for other notable teams such as the North Carolina Panthers and the New York Jets.
Quinnipiac undergraduates made their voices heard Wednesday April, 10 as they selected the next group of leaders in the Student Government Association (SGA) elections.
Austin Calvo, President Elect and Luke Ahearn, Class of 2020 Senator
After a tight race, Austin Calvo was the biggest winner of the night, beating out Luke Ahearn to become the new SGA president. Calvo ran on a platform of transparency and advocacy, and vows to represent all students.
“I am prepared to fight for you and give you the Quinnipiac that you deserve,” Calvo said, addressing his constituents in his first interview as President Elect with Q30. “We deserve a Quinnipiac where we feel our experience and our opportunities reflect the price tag.”
Over 3000 students casted their votes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday on Quinnipiac’s Do You QU system. Vice President for Public Relations and Marketing, Victoria Johnson, sent out a press release via email to share the election results with the Quinnipiac community just after 10:30 p.m.
“Student Government would like to thank all who participated in the election and encourages all students to find what they enjoy being involved in on campus during their time at Quinnipiac,” the statement read.
Making up the rest of the SGA executive board will be Vice President Elect Sophia Marshall, Vice President for Finance Elect Glenn Adams, Vice President for Student Experience Elect Esau Green, Vice President for Public Relations Elect Jamien Jean-Baptise, and Chief Justice Elect Lille Gaeta.
Quinnipiac students such as Ambar Mercedes, junior advertising major, say they are hopeful and eager to see what changes are brought about by the new group of elected leaders.
“I think a lot the leaders who the student body chose are going to really be able to represent us as students,” Mercedes said.
Other notable victories include Julia Suesser, Class of 2020 President, Meghan McNulty, Class of 2021 President, and Alec Williams, Class of 2022 President.
Below are the full results of the 2019 Student Government Elections:
2019-2020 Student Government Association Executive Board
President: Austin Calvo
Vice President: Sophia Marshall
Vice President for Finance: Glenn Adams
Vice President for Student Experience: Esau Greene
Vice President for Marketing and Public Relations: Jamien Jean-Baptiste
Judicial and Ethics Board
Chief Justice: Lille Gaeta
Justice: Matthew Forcino
Justice: Kyra Angileri
Justice: Mel Lugo
Specialized Representation Senators:
Multicultural and Idenity Senators: Sierra Cornelison and Tina Asfaw
Ska-punk band Reel Big Fish will make their way to Burt Kahn Court this coming Saturday.
The band will be performing as the headliner for WQAQ’s Springfest concert along with opening act Asceral Envictus.
This year, WQAQ decided on their performers differently than in years past. Sophia Alfieri, the radio station’s Public Relations manager, said this year was more focused on what the students wanted,
“This year we did things a little differently, we sent outa poll” said Alfieri, “they vote in the poll, we get the results back, we look at the top and then we reach out.”
Rapper Flipp Dinero headlined last year’s Springfest concert, but students are showing excitement for the change in genre.
“I like the rough, I like the little things, the stank notes” said Quinnipiac student Sean Raggio, “I just feel like I can connect to it more.”
The concert will precede Student Programming Board’s Wake the Giant concert featuring rappers Blackbear and Bryce Vine, but students are still excited to see the 90’s ska band.
“I feel like there will be different crowds,” said Raggio, “but I think Springfest will be a better show.”
Students enter free with their Q-Card and doors open for the event at 7 P.M.
The biggest meeting space on Quinnipiac University’s campus in Hamden is nearly empty save for three students, dressed in business attire and brimming with excitement.
The hollowness of the Mount Carmel Auditorium on that cold October evening did not affect three members of race-based Greek organizations as they prepared for their much-anticipated event centered on bridging the gap between white and minority students at their predominantly white institution.
The three students — a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., a black fraternity, as well as two Hispanic students representing Latin Greek organizations — spent weeks organizing the event and days promoting it with fliers on social media. They prepared a PowerPoint with statistics, composed discussion questions and broached ways to discuss the racial tension at a university that recently suspended another fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, after a racist incident earlier in 2018.
Finally, everything is in place.
But, 30 minutes after the event is scheduled to begin, only five students are in attendance.
The disappointment sets in.
As the few students that decided to make the trek across Quinnipiac’s quad settle into their seats, the realization hit that there would be a lot more vacant seats in the auditorium than filled ones.
Despite the dedication and efforts of the members of many of the multicultural Greek organizations, the reality is, these organizations receive little administrative support, and even less general visibility at predominantly white institutions, PWIs, across America.
“I can definitely say it is kind of discouraging. And it makes you think twice if you want to hold another event or if you want to do something like this again because it’s like, your afraid to get the same outcome,” said Bernard Grant, vice president of the National Society for Black Engineers at the University of New Haven. “You don’t want to feel like your time was wasted, like you put in all this effort, and only like three or four people showed up to it.”
Despite the struggles that multicultural greek organizations face at PWIs, things were far worse in the early 1900s when many of these organizations did not exist. African American students searched for something to be a part of in order to give them a sense of belonging at universities.
Fraternities at Cornell University prohibited black members, but African American students wanting to join a brotherhood got creative.
Henry Arthur Callis, for example, worked as a server at Sigma Alpha Epsilon events. George Biddle Kelley did the same for Beta Theta Pi. Others served as tutors — anything to experience fraternity life and see the inner workings of a successful organization.
Callis and Kelley used their experiences and knowledge of the institutional framework to help found Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. at Cornell in 1906 — the first ever historically black intercollegiate fraternity at the undergraduate level.
Over the next 60 years, eight more organizations launched across America. Seven were founded before 1925, with Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. being the latest, which was founded in 1963 at Morgan State University, a historically black university in Baltimore.
These organizations make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council, which is the collective governing body for these organizations, with the goal of “Unanimity of thought and action as far as possible in the conduct of greek letter collegiate fraternities and sororities, and to consider problems of mutual interest to its member organizations” as stated on the NPHC website. Ever since Iota Phi Theta officially became a member of the council in 1997, it has been commonly referred to as the “Divine Nine”(D9).
Jaylan Leon is the chief communications director of students of the diaspora at Yale in New Haven.
“My image of the D9 is black excellence. Black people that are trying to move forward and come together to make an impact in their community. People who are really motivated towards a like goal. It has an impact to really change communities and impact youth, especially,” Leon said.
Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha
Kappa Alpha PsiDelta Sigma Theta
Ques
Zeta Phi Beta
Members of the Divine Nine across the country in the mid to late 20th Century. Photos Courtesy of Creative Commons/ Flickr.
Three of these D9 organizations were founded at PWIs, with two sprouting up in the midwest when Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. launched at Indiana University in Bloomington in 1911, and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. began at Indianapolis’ Butler University in 1922.
Stephanie McClure, a sociology professor at Georgia College, and author of the book “Voluntary Association Membership: Black Greek Men on a Predominantly White Campus” says students founded the black fraternities as social support and political action organizations.
“I guess I’ve always felt like that was their role,” she said.
In 2019, these organizations look much different now, since they have grown immensely and expanded their outreach.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., chartered at Howard University in 1908, has now initiated upwards of 300,000 members. Alpha Phi Alpha has over 200,00 initiated members at more than 700 chapters across the world.
All of the D9 organizations have established chapters outside of the United States in places such as the Virgin Islands, England, Canada, South Korea, Germany and Jamaica.
Despite the growth of the D9 over the last century, the representation at Quinnipiac is scarce with just one D9 organization on campus. The Sigma Beta chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho has just one active member and has not welcomed any new initiates since Spring 2017.
Sevina Jackson is that lone member.
“I would say that my membership journey is different than other individuals that are in sororities on this campus,” she said. “I know my chapter does struggle to recruit members and maintain a size of five or more. As far as having events and stuff we do struggle to get an attendance.”
Though the chapter struggles to maintain membership, Quinnipiac administrators are committed to the sorority.
“We need to continue to provide support to the sorority that’s here. And we need to be honest with national organizations that want to come here,” said Katherine Pezzella, director of campus life for fraternity and sorority life.
“We need to get to a point where we’re also OK not only accepting the city-wide model but we also need to be OK with groups coming and going on our campus. We need to be OK that we can recognize the AKAs, while the AKAs are kind of in and then maybe they die out but we welcome them back whenever there is interest.”
The city-wide model is a model that is commonly adopted at PWIs in an effort to provide a chapter that can sustain on a campus where there aren’t many black students.
For example Alpha Phi Alpha and Alpha Kappa Alpha are two city-wide chapters that exist in the greater New Haven area and consist of members from Yale, University of New Haven, Southern Connecticut State University and Quinnipiac.
This fusion of universities provides membership numbers to be able to sustain over a long period of time.
The problem is, many universities don’t recognize city-wide chapters due to insurance issues.
Colleen Kazar, assistant director for Greek life and programming at the University of New Haven said, “We cannot monitor or manage what is happening in city-wide chapters, which creates a liability on the university should something happen to one of our students.”
This creates a high hurdle for involved students and handicaps the organizations greatly by creating situations in which members can’t host events or receive financial assistance from the university.
“We had to get a paper signed by our Greek advisor on campus just saying that we meet the requirements — saying that we had a 2.5 (grade point average), we’re in good standing with the school and we’re actually a student there,” said Bernard Grant, a recently initiated member of Alpha Phi Alpha at the University of New Haven. “But the reason they wouldn’t sign it was because we’re not recognized on campus.”
Quinnipiac holds the same policy regarding city-wide chapters, thus limiting options for African American students.
Since Quinnipiac does not allocate any funding directly to Greek organizations on campus, funds are raised strictly via chapter dues, meaning the members determine the budget for the chapter. For Jackson and Sigma Beta, that means just one person is contributing monetarily, deeming it nearly impossible to finance the chapter.
“It’s definitely something that we’re talking about. I think it’s something that we’ll revisit again this summer and just try to think through,” Pezzella said.
Sigma Beta
Sigma BetaSigma BetaSigma Beta
Jackson and other members of Sigma Gamma Rho in Connecticut at various events in the community. Photos courtesy of Sevina Jackson.
Another potential solution to the recruitment issue could be revisiting how these organizations appeal to non-African American students.
“…at top-tier universities, black undergraduate populations average 6 percent, a statistic that has remained largely flat for 20 years.” according to a 2015 article that was published by The Atlantic.
Therefore, if on average 94% of the student body is not African American, the D9 organizations need to find other ways to recruit members.
“Diversify the membership. Don’t simply focus on the color of folks’ skin. Focus on whether or not they hold the fraternity’s ideals,” said Gregory Parks, associate dean of research, public engagement and faculty development at Wake Forest.
“Do they care about racial equality? Do they care about high academic performance? Do they care about community engagement? Do they care about collegiality? Getting along with others or brotherhood. You might imagine some progressive-minded White, Latino, Asian American, Native American students on campus who’d be interested in Alpha — they just need to know more about it.” he said.
PWIs have not met the standard that the founders of these organizations envisioned more than a century ago.
“I think we can always do better. The work our fraternities and sororities do should be celebrated on a constant basis,” said Eric Lacharity, associate director of the Office of Student Involvement at Southern Connecticut State. “It’s our job to be advocates for our Greek Life community and create that visibility for them and educate others on their importance.”
Educate — just like the three students in the near-empty assembly room on Quinnipiac’s campus last October were doing. University administrators at PWIs must also bridge the gap to the D9 organizations on their campuses.
“I feel like their presence is getting more and more known by the day as we add more, and I really feel like it’s becoming a really good staple of this community,” said Kyle Lopez, Quinnipiac’s Interfraternity Council president.
“We’re all working together and we’re building this community that’s awesome,” Lopez said. “So, I think if we keep going in the direction that we’re going in now in terms of membership intake, in terms of organizations being added, that we’ll be in a really good place in a few years.”
Dodging, weaving, and swerving left and right. This isn’t the description of race car drivers approaching their final lap on the track– it’s one of Quinnipiac students driving along Mount Carmel Avenue trying to make it to class in one piece. The obstacle in their way? Potholes, which only seem to grow in size and number at the end of every winter.
Superintendent of Streets for Hamden’s Public Works Department Joseph Longobardi said that while potholes are a year-long problem, they occur more frequently during the late winter into spring, due to the change in weather.
“During the winter you have the rain and then it freezes, and it tends to pop the asphalt. That’s when the potholes occur and the complaints start coming in,” Longobardi said. “We’re filling them (the potholes) from then all the way to the fall.”
There are two trucks that maintain approximately 228 miles of road, one in the north end of town and one in the south. With these two vehicles, the public works department has filled 322 potholes from Jan. 3 to April 4 of this year.
The process of filling and refilling these road hazards is a long one and it depends on weather conditions as well as the availability of materials.
While the pothole is preferably filled with hot asphalt mix, which has long-lasting properties, it is often not available in the colder months. If this is the case, as it is in Hamden, repairs are made with other materials like cold patch, a mixture of stone and oil, and then revisited in warmer months.
Longobardi said the department uses the cold patch to maintain the roads for the winter while the asphalt plants are closed. When the plants reopen at the end of May, they can begin using the hot asphalt as a more permanent patch.
Constant maintenance of the roads is not enough to keep the complaints at bay. In fact, they’re a daily occurrence. There are currently 136 pothole reports on SeeClickFix. Yesterday, that number was 122.
Potholes off of Sherman Avenue
Photos by Kristina Mendoza-Cabrera
“I normally drive pretty fast, but that’s all changed since coming to school here,” Quinnipiac junior Jaysa Quinlivan said. “I feel like I have to be so careful to avoid the huge potholes.”
Sometimes, the consequences are more than a little jostling.
“I’ve messed up my car severely– my bumper was all scratched up,” Quinnipiac senior and New Road resident Sarah Foley said. “There are times when I’ve considered walking to school.”
And while the list of complaints is never-ending, the current resources for attending to the issue only go so far.
“There are many roads that we do need to pave, but it’s the budget,” Longobardi said. “The budget and money is the concern.”
Records of the Town of Hamden show the budget for the entire public works department– not just the sector that works on pothole repair– is approximately $10.4 million, or 4.9 percent of the overall budget. For comparison, the Board of Education receives $82.7 million and makes up 39 percent of the budget. Debt services which make-up 9.3 percent of the budget, get $19.7 million, according to the Town of Hamden’s “Citizen’s Guide to the Budget.”
A breakdown of Hamden’s budget
Photo via Town of Hamden
Still, the public works department works with what it has. Along with roads like Todd Street, Shepard Street and Sherman Avenue, the department has been filling potholes along Mount Carmel Avenue since March. The back roads from Quinnipiac’s main campus to the North Haven campus are especially ravaged.
“The back roads leading from Mount Carmel to Hartford Turnpike? We were on that for a week and a half,” Longobardi said. “We laid 20 tons of asphalt on that and it didn’t even make a dent.”
This is particularly bad news for students like Quinnipiac senior Erin Redding, who has classes in North Haven twice a week. The 15-minute commute is one she dreads.
“It’s a horrible road. The potholes are just unavoidable because there’s so many,” Redding said. “I feel like I’m ruining my car every time I drive there, but I don’t have a choice.”
And it’s not only students who are exasperated. Hamden resident James Wise, a mechanic at Firestone Complete Auto Care, says he can’t even count the number of cars he’s seen this month that have tire damage due to potholes.
“A lot of people have been coming in with their tires busted,” Wise said. “We’ve had quite a few people coming in and complaining about potholes here.”
One of those people was his aunt, Valerie Harold, who lives on West Side Drive and busted her tire after hitting a pothole.
“It was crazy,” Wise said. “I had to replace her lower control arm and everything underneath after the whole wheel fell out.”
Nick Froso, another mechanic at Firestone Complete Auto Care, spoke to the cost of repair for tire damage.
“Immediately it’s like $175 just for a mechanic to look at it. A new rim costs an average of $400 to $500 apiece,” Froso said. “Depending on the car, it’s anywhere from that price and the sky’s the limit.”
The same cannot be said for what’s to be done about Hamden’s potholes. With an insufficient budget, there is only so much the department can do for road repair. Most of the efforts seem to go toward preventing the damage from growing worse.
For those like Longobardi, the constant filling and refilling of potholes using cold and hot patch feels like an ongoing battle.
“It doesn’t seem like a lot, but we do what we can for now and hope it holds over,” Longobardi said.
Quinnipiac University dining is now implementing orange “paid” stickers in an effort to combat student stealing.
“Unfortunately, we have been noticing an increase in the number of students stealing over the past couple of years,” Morgan Watson, marketing manager for Quinnipiac Dining said. “Theft has continued to increase and become a prominent issue at our dining facilities.”
The new policy, which began on April 2, will help staff to identify drinks that have not been paid for.
“The paid stickers are part of our effort to identify who has paid for their beverage,” Watson said.
The cafeteria has experienced a 10 percent shrinkage in inventory due to theft, according to Watson. The stickers are one of a few ways Quinnipiac dining plans to address this issue.
Results out of 200 respondents from survey sent out on HQ Press Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.: (click to scroll)
The university is also considering installing new camera systems in the Mount Carmel and York Hill cafeterias to further monitor stealing, Watson said. The cameras, which are planned to arrive in the fall of 2019, will have a live feed monitored by public safety.
Some students said they believe these new additions will damage the relationship between the university and the student body.
“I feel like that really puts a disconnect between Quinnipiac and the students,” Aryn McClure, a senior at Quinnipiac University, said. “It makes it seem like they can’t trust us and like they’re watching us as we go and eat. I think that just adds more stress to the students knowing that maybe I can’t be comfortable in my own school, in my own environment.”
Some members of the Quinnipiac community suspect that inflated prices are one of the main causes of frequent stealing.
“You can buy this stuff at a store off-campus for half the price that it is here, seriously, it’s crazy,” Christina Lucas, a Chartwells cashier, said. “Every year the prices go up.”
For example, a peanut butter chocolate Gatorade Whey Protein bar at Walmart is currently priced as low as $1.50, however, it is priced at $3.59 in the cafeteria, almost three times more expensive than what it would be at market value.
Cost of peanut butter chocolate Gatorade Whey Protein bar at the Quinnipiac cafeteria versus the cost at Walmart.
Quinnipiac Dining claims that the high prices on food are no excuse for students to consistently steal.
“The majority of the students who remove unauthorized food and beverage from the dining facilities still have money on their meal plan account,” Watson said.
In addition to steeper prices, some students feel like the cafeteria needs to do a better job decreasing the amount of time that it takes to purchase their food.
“I think students steal so often in the cafeteria based off time,” Chelsea Jones, a senior Quinnipiac student, said. “If you go into the cafeteria around 12 o’clock it’s really packed in there and it’s busy, so you’re not going to wait in line to pay for a juice when you can just take it and keep going about your business.”
Jones said she believes opening more registers will allow for a quicker checkout time and keep students from skipping the lines when they are in a rush.
“They probably need to open up more registers around the times that they know they’re going to be busy,” Jones said. “Not just have one or two registers open around those busy hours, because nobody’s going to wait.”
Watson and Quinnipiac Dining understand the student’s concerns regarding the wait time and stated that they try to avoid the backlog during peak periods as much as possible.
“Our standard is to have all registers open at peak periods,” Watson said. “However, there are times when we are understaffed at the moment and a register may not be open for a period. We try to avoid closing any registers at peak time if possible.”
Jones also said that she believes providing discounts on certain items toward the end of the semester will keep students from stealing when their meal plan is running low.
“During the times of the school year where students may be lower on meal plan, I definitely think that the prices should drop on drinks,” Jones said. “Water bottles are around $3, that’s unnecessary. If anything it should be at most $2.”
Even with the new sticker policy, as well as the camera system that is on the horizon for next year, it is safe to assume that students will still steal at least in some capacity despite the efforts of the dining staff.
Student responds to the news of the orange paid stickers on Twitter.
“They just walk right out. It’s like what can you do? I can’t do anything to these people,” Lucas said.
Moving forward, the university will continue to work with the dining staff to come up with the best solution to the theft dilemma. However, some students say the answer might be easier than many would’ve thought.
“I think (the university) should just trust the students a little bit more,” McClure said. “I do understand they need to make profits, but stealing isn’t OK. They should work with the student body and create resources for them to eat in an affordable way. Just trust Quinnipiac because we are one community.”
Three NCAA women’s basketball tournament wins. Three NIRA rugby championships. One NCAA Women’s Frozen Four appearance.
All after one Title IX case.
Quinnipiac University’s women’s athletic teams have thrived in the aftermath of the case that is now 10 years old. It stemmed from a decision to cut the volleyball and add competitive cheer, an activity a judge later ruled to be not a sport for Title IX accounting.
Under federal Title IX provisions, schools must offer equal opportunity for men and women to compete in sports as determined by the gender ratio. In other words, if Quinnipiac women stand at 65 percent of the school’s enrollment, then 65 percent of athletic rosters must consist of women athletes.
In 2009, the University cut women’s volleyball for a cheer team. However, with the cheer team lacking competition, a federal judge ruled that it could not qualify as a sport.
Five volleyball players and the coach at the time, Robin Sparks, refused to back down and filed a federal lawsuit claiming that Quinnipiac had violated provisions of Title IX. The university reinstated the team pending the lawsuit’s outcome.
This on-going case led to a consent decree, which by definition is an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt or liability. This decree ultimately led to the building of the new soccer, lacrosse and field hockey stadiums at Quinnipiac.
Even though the outcome has been positive, female athletes have felt adversity since the case. The women’s volleyball team just fired its two coaches after another losing season. Even women’s rugby has struggled to gain recognition from the university, being forced to play on a field smaller than regulation for the last few years. With these situations to consider, this case has been a driver for success.
Because of these leaders in our community, women’s athletics have been responsible for some major growth at Quinnipiac. They have brought the Bobcat faithful new stadiums, national recognition and plenty of winning.
I interviewed three athletes who either attend or attended Quinnipiac to get their perspectives on Title IX, the court case and how the drive of equality continues.
John Franklin: In your time at Quinnipiac University, the Title IX lawsuit was a prevalent situation. How do you remember it effecting your career and the athletic department as a whole?
Elizabeth Kloos: I did read through all the court documents before my freshman year so I knew what I was headed into, but honestly so many of the lawsuit requirements had been taken care of before I arrived that it wasn’t talked about much.
Elizabeth Kloos playing middle hitter during her senior year at Quinnipiac University.
We did have meetings with the lawyers to ensure that the details of the settlement were still being followed, which I genuinely think they were, and it emphasized that we knew who the Title IX coordinator was if any issues arose. But otherwise it never really crossed my mind.
I do want to say that I do not feel that there were any negative repercussions towards the team because of the lawsuit, which says a lot about Quinnipiac. I think in some places a lawsuit like this could create a lot of tension between the volleyball team and other coaches, admin, etc. but I never heard anyone talking poorly about the lawsuit or the settlement requirements. Maybe because in the end it kind of benefited all athletes? Still impressive.
JF: How can you say athletics has shaped you to become who you are today?
EK: Athletics has forced me to have relationships with so many different people. I think that is what I am most thankful for. The people you meet in athletic environments are so driven and brilliant in their own inspiring ways, you can’t help but take a little piece of each person with you when you move on.
Athletics has also forced me out of my comfort zone and I don’t think anything else could have done that to that extent. I would have never moved across the country twice if it weren’t for athletics. But I did, and I learned and experienced so much good and bad from it!
And to reemphasize, I met so many great people! I look back and cannot believe the amazing people I would have never known. I still keep in contact with so many people that athletics connected me with- way more than people I met outside of athletics. So yeah, so thankful for the special people that have shaped me into me, and thankful for athletics for bringing us together!
JF: All things considered, the Title IX case came out in a very positive direction for the volleyball program. Looking back, would you change how it all went down or would you keep it the same?
EK: Because so much of the lawsuit/settlement had been taken care of before I got to Quinnipiac, I wasn’t really in the “hot seat” of it. I just happened to benefit from it. BUT I am so appreciative of and inspired by those that were involved throughout the whole process.
Having the courage to take on an entire University for something as controversial as Title IX is so impressive to me. Plus, they had to know that the entire process would take so long that it was unlikely that they would even benefit from the settlements (if they won). What an awesome group of females that stood up for the girls that would be following in their footsteps, again, the people!
JF: Other athletes must look up to you for the path you forged. What do you say to young girls everywhere trying to live their academic and athletic dream?
EK: I think being involved in athletics at any level is such an awesome opportunity. You don’t have to be the best player to reap the rewards athletics offers. Be a good teammate, and have a positive impact on those around you.
Those are the people that make it big in life. No one is going to look up your stats once it’s over, trust me. And it is hard to practice those skills outside of athletics, so stick with it.
JF: Being a former athlete at this school, was there ever a time you thought female athletics were treated less than men’s?
Jessica Bracamonte: In terms of equipment, supplies, training facilities, and coaching/support staff I believe that both the women’s and men’s team were treated equally. Typically, we trained on the same fields and lifted in the same weight rooms. We all received apparel and all equipment necessary to play the sport.
The only aspect in which I would have considered the women’s team to have been treated less than men’s would be the popularity and fan base at the games. There is always a larger fan base and turn out for men’s athletics than at female’s. It’s sad because female athletes are truly exceptional and very fun to watch.
Jessica Bracamonte signing her letter of intent to play for Quinnipiac University.
JF: How well were you made aware of the Title IX lawsuit QU went through just a couple years before you arrived to play on campus?
JB: I was not aware of the Title IX lawsuit QU went through until Junior year when I was joining the club lacrosse team. They informed me that the team was not affiliated with Quinnipiac as a result of the lawsuit.
JF: Do you know what Title IX is, what it does, and who it protects?
JB: I believe Title IX is used to protect groups of people against inequality in sports? For example, it ensures that a female athletic team receives the same support, gear, and budget as a male athletic team. Beyond that I’m not that sure. I know they educated us on it while I was playing.
JF: What do you tell girls who are trying to move on in their careers and play college sports?
JB: You have to have strong time management skills. Be prepared to sacrifice a lot of social events and late night hang outs. Also be prepared to meet your best friends, have the time of your life, and work harder than you ever have.
It’s beautiful to have a whole team of people you can rely on. You just need to be disciplined in both your academics and athletics. I would say follow your heart and trust your gut. You’ll know within a month or two if playing a college sport is what you truly want to be doing. The sport should always be something you love even when it gets hard, if it’s not it might be time to say goodbye to it.
JF: Being a female athlete, throughout your entire career did you ever feel like women’s sports have taken a back seat to men’s?
Allison Roethke: I have always felt that women’s sports have “sat in the backseat” to men’s. My parents actually had me play boys hockey growing up. They thought that it would be better for my future because of the lack of attention women’s sports was receiving in my town at the time.
JF: Female athletes maintain such an inspirational stature in the sports world. When you step on the ice, who would you say you “play for”?
Quinnipiac Junior Allison Roethke
AK: It’s so cliche but we all play for the little girl watching us from the stands. We see that little girl and it reminds us of where we started. We want them to see us, and think “Wow, I can do that!”, and they can. We are powerful people in a very important time for women.
JF: When you were growing up, was there a big inspiration you had to get you to play sports at the D1 level?
AK: My older sister. I always wanted to do everything that she did. She ended up committing to UConn and I ended up following in her footstep out to the east coast to play as well. She always showed me that it’s worth it to try and make a change.
JF: QU is set to host the women’s Frozen Four this year. Something that ten years ago during the Title IX case seemed impossible. How proud are you of this establishment and its ability to grow around talented and popular female athletics?
AK: I can’t even put into words how incredible it is for Quinnipiac to be hosting the Frozen Four. We have the best of the best facilities and resources.
I am proud to be a part of this program and its journey to grow the women’s game. We strive every day to not only be the best hockey players but the best people.
The End All
From then to now, female athletes have been forced to make a change. Elizabeth Kloos was part of the first group of trailblazers to suit up for the Bobcats. She was part of the first effort to drive Quinnipiac out of the throws of the consent decree.
Fast forward two years, and Jessica Bracamonte was made minimally aware of the case as a whole. She didn’t know much about it when we talked, and didn’t really grasp Title IX until she was three years into her college career. There needs to be more education on this topic, and transparency between the university and its athletes.
Look at what Allison Roethke said. She sees this university trending in the positive direction, especially with hosting the Frozen Four this year.
If the establishment continues to push forward, and make strides for female athletics, it will leave the Title IX case in the dust. However, the women who started it all can’t be overlooked.
Because of the strong fight those athletes had, the university has brand new facilities, plenty of trophies and will host a Frozen Four.
It is truly a turn of the tide, and should build excitement for Bobcats fans moving forward.
JAN 27 – As midnight approaches at Quinnipiac University and Sunday night turns into Monday, students on the Mount Carmel Campus are making their way to bed and readying themselves for a new work week.
Just down the street, however, the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute is wide awake, as interviewers use the last 15 minutes of their shift scrambling to get those last-minute national survey completions.
It’s a night just like any other at 60 West Woods Road in Hamden, Connecticut.
Callers sit in rows of wooden cubicles, armed with a computer, headset and manual dialer. The interviewers are a mixed bag of students and local residents, creating a steady hubbub that encompasses the two-story facility.
Manual dialer at polling station
Tonight, interviewers are asking who American voters trust more “on issues that are important” to them: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or President Donald Trump.
Two days prior, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history had just come to a conclusion. Centered around a disagreement on border security between Republicans and Democrats, Trump sought $5.7 billion toward constructing a wall on the southern border. Democrats called the request “immoral” and a waste of taxpayer money.
The shutdown, which resulted in 380,000 federal workers being furloughed and an additional 420,000 workers being required to work without any known payment date, eventually ended when both chambers of the House approved a plan to reopen the government for a three-week period to negotiate a suitable appropriations bill.
When the survey results were released Jan. 29, the Quinnipiac Poll found that in the immediate aftermath, American voters trusted Pelosi more than Trump, 49 to 42 percent.
“The first round of many to come in the heavyweight bout goes the speaker’s way as Trump takes the hit for the shutdown and his party is suffering along with him,” Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll said in a statement.
In the same survey, Donald Trump’s approval rating took a hit. At 38 percent, the commander in chief dropped down from 41 percent approval just two weeks earlier.
And with each survey that comes to a close, the Quinnipiac Poll provides us with a snapshot in time. In just a matter of days, the Poll is able to capture and present an intricate picture of the nation’s political landscape.
For Quinnipiac Poll Director Dr. Doug Schwartz, the key is staying on top of the news, asking the right questions, and relying on his team of a dozen polling analysts.
Quinnipiac University Poll Director Doug Schwartz (courtesy: poll.qu.edu)
“It’s a back and forth,” Schwartz said. “There’s a lot of rewrites of a survey. Oftentimes when we’re doing a national poll, there’s a lot of breaking national news every day, that we’ll constantly need to rewrite the survey to respond to the late breaking events.”
Responding to the latest breaking news is par for the course for Schwartz, the self-proclaimed political junkie who has been the Quinnipiac Poll Director since 1994, when he was just 27 years old.
“I love watching the news,” Schwartz said.“I can watch what’s happening and then I have this great opportunity to ask questions of voters and get their reaction.”
Crafting poll questions is no easy feat, though. Schwartz – who previously worked for CBS News as an analyst for the late “60 Minutes” correspondent, Ed Bradley – describes the process as painstakingly meticulous. Wording questions clearly, concisely and neutrally is crucial to maintaining the integrity of any survey.
“Maybe a question is too vague and we need to rewrite it to make it clearer. Maybe there are certain words in a question that might push a respondent in a certain direction,” Schwartz explained. “We’re trying to write neutral, fair, balanced questions.”
Coming up with questions was an easier task back when the Quinnipiac Poll only conducted surveys in Connecticut. After New York and New Jersey were added to the mix, national polls followed in 2001. Now, with polls conducted in 12 states, polling analysts for each state are called upon to help draft each and every survey.
“We have polling analysts in all of our states and nationally talk about what are the big issues, what are the questions we should be asking, and then we will draft a survey based on what we think are the most newsworthy issues at the time,” Schwartz said. “We will vet the survey, so there will be multiple pairs of eyes that look over the survey and give feedback, and then whatever concerns are raised, we will address them.”
Mary Snow, head polling analyst for New York and New Jersey (courtesy: poll.qu.edu)
One of those pairs of eyes belongs to Mary Snow, the Quinnipiac Poll’s head polling analyst for New York and New Jersey. Snow and her team are tasked with thoroughly analyzing the data and producing press releases.
“We always get Doug’s input,” Snow said. “We ask, ‘Doug, you’ve been doing this for 20 years, what do you see? What strikes you as most significant in these polls.’ Then we craft how we’re going to present it. What are the top issues for the media? What is most newsworthy?”
The veteran journalist and former CNN correspondent began working at the Poll this past July, and calls upon her previous career to help guide her in her newest position.
“As a polling analyst, you really draw upon what you do as a journalist by staying on top of all the issues that are making news,” Snow said. “You look for developments on issues that you may be polling about.”
For Snow, one of these recent issues was the Amazon deal that was rejected by New York City.
“The polling we did about the Amazon deal in New York played an important part in the conversation,” Snow said. “We asked several questions and we saw that people were really conflicted about parts of this deal, so it wasn’t a very black and white issue, there were a lot of nuances.”
And while she says that giving a voice to ordinary people is her favorite part of the job, Snow says it’s maintaining a relationship with the media that really runs the gamut.
“After [our press release] is sent to the media, you are on tap to do interviews,” Snow said. “You are there to answer whatever questions someone may have when reporting on this poll. You can get a call from a college radio station or you can get a call from the New York Times.”
Despite Snow’s dedication to availability and transparency, she warns that journalists still don’t always get the story right.
“I think we saw this in 2016,” Snow said, referring to the last presidential election. “Polls are not perfect and that’s why they have a margin of error. Sometimes the media can jump to winners and losers. Forecasting is not what we do. We give a snapshot in time.”
Snow believes journalists have stepped back since 2016, however, and called rampant, over-eager reporting, “a collective lesson.”
Schwartz echoed Snow’s sentiment, and claimed the mistrust of polling data could be attributed to widespread misreporting and a lack of understanding.
“With Florida, when we were polling, our final poll had Hillary Clinton ahead by 1 point, and our headline and lead said this is too close to call, this is within the margin of error. It could go either way,” said Schwartz. “But the perception was still, ‘Oh Hillary Clinton is ahead in Florida,’ and that’s how it got interpreted. The polls weren’t saying that. The polls were saying Florida could go either way. It ended up that Donald Trump won by 1 point, well within the poll’s margin of error.”
Quinnipiac University Poll sign at the Whitney Avenue location
With 2016 in the rearview mirror, Schwartz and his team now look forward to an electric race in 2020, particularly with so many Democrats throwing their hats in the ring for the chance to take on President Trump.
The stakes remain high for the Quinnipiac Poll, as the Democratic National Committee (DNC) recently declared it would be using the Quinnipiac Poll as one that will determine which candidates are eligible for the upcoming primary debates.
“A candidate has to get at least 1 percent in three polls; either a national poll, or one of the early voting states, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada,” Schwartz said. “If they do that, then they make the debates.”
Schwartz said the DNC’s decision was made along the same guidelines CNN and Fox News used to select which Republican candidates were eligible for the debates in 2016. Schwartz called the polls chosen, “gold standard” polls – ones that use live interviewers and call cell phones.
The Quinnipiac Poll began calling cell phones in 2012, in a move that Schwartz calls the biggest change in methodology since he began directing the poll over two decades ago. He credits the addition as an important way to ensure each survey gets adequate representation from younger voters.
During national polls, interviewers are divided in half between landlines and cell phones. With such a large magnitude of numbers to dial each shift, Schwartz said proper scheduling is of the utmost importance.
“Going into a survey, we have a plan,” Schwartz said. “We’ll say ‘we are trying to get 1,200 registered voters,’ and we know we are going to need this many interviewers working this many nights in order to achieve it.”
Jean Amazan, survey call center operations manager, agrees, and says scheduling and managing the staff is the most difficult part of the operation.
“It would be very easy for us to poll if we could get people in their seats when we need them to be,” Amazan said. “That’s the hardest part.”
The Poll is hindered, however, in that the interviewer position is a part time job, and many of the interviewers are Quinnipiac students. Non-students can’t work more than 19.5 hours a week, and students can’t work more than 15 hours a week.
“When the students are here, we set the number of expected cancellations higher because we know students are more likely to cancel than the non-students,” Amazan said. “The meat on the bone is really getting people in their seat dialing numbers and getting those completes.”
Despite the scheduling obstacles, the Quinnipiac Poll rarely fails to meet its goal.
“We try not to let it happen,” Dorothy Donarum, manager of interviewer operations said. “We’ll extend hours if we see that we’re getting a lot of cancellations. We’ll make it a ‘B week’ so everyone will work an extra shift.”
Dorothy Donarum and Carmen Carranza
Donarum, who began working at the poll in 1999 as an interviewer, emphasized the importance of getting enough completes to make the data viable, which is dependent upon adequate scheduling.
“If you’re going to the press, you can’t go to the press saying ‘I polled 500 people,’” Amazan added. “If you say you’re going to poll 1,000 registered people you want to have 1,000 registered people – and if you don’t have people to get that data, you don’t have the result that you’re expecting.”
Carmen Carranza, assistant manager of interviewer operations, also started working as an interviewer, and noted that the amount of completes can vary on a daily basis.
“You notice a difference when you go into the room,” Carranza said. “It all depends on the state and the day of the week too, but on a Saturday morning it’s very busy, a lot of people are answering the phone, but the Saturday second shift you walk in there and hardly anybody is on a survey.”
With the significance of workplace attendance in mind, Carranza, Amazan and Donarum still believe that working around student schedules is a must.
Polling stations located at the Quinnipiac Poll Whitney Avenue location
“We realize that the students are here to go to school and there’s a lot of meetings and whatnot at night,” Donarum said.
“If you have something at school, just let us know and we’ll work with you,” Amazan added. “We try to talk to [students] and help them because you’re not going to be in college the rest of your life. You eventually graduate and join the workforce, and if you don’t show up to work, your boss is going to tell you ‘bye.’”
While scheduling complications will always be a hurdle for the Quinnipiac Poll, there is no lack of passion from the management team.
“It’s kind of exciting on a night where it’s the last night of our survey and we’re aiming to get 1,200 registered [voters] and we’re at 1,191, you know, and it’s like quarter of nine,” Donarum said. “Everyone gets very excited and I love to see that happen when we make our goal.”
Amazan concurred, highlighting how stressful the job can be when time is of the essence. Seeing the results come to fruition, however, makes all that stress worthwhile.
“Once you get to the end of survey and you make it happen and reach the goal, I think that’s the best part of the job,” Amazan said.
Going from a single state polling facility to a nationally recognized institution has been integral in making Quinnipiac University a household name. According to former Quinnipiac President John Lahey, the university shells out about $2 million annually to keep the operation running, and students and staff alike agree that it has been money well spent.
According to Scott McLean, Chairman for the school’s Department of Philosophy and Political Science, there is no shortage of benefits to being employed by the poll.
“If they’re willing to take the effort, [students] would be able to understand the work of pollsters and survey research,” McLean said. “It really depends on the students’ interests and desires. We’ve had students that went from being interviewers all the way to being full-time staff at the Poll.”
McLean said students who are interested in learning how to use polling data have additional opportunities to engage with public opinion polling in classes, such as ‘Political Psychology and Public Opinion’ which he teaches, and a course on statistics for social sciences in the math department.
On top of all that, the Poll is a great way for students to hear from a variety of voices across the country with an extensive range of political beliefs. It’s also an opportunity for college students to earn a little extra cash. In fact, the interviewer position is one of the highest paying jobs around campus.
One of those students taking advantage of all the Quinnipiac Poll has to offer is Amanda Perelli, senior journalism major.
“It’s actually an interesting job,” Perelli said. “You are participating in collecting data that will be used nationally, and that’s a big deal. People all over the country look to and rely on the data you are working towards collecting.”
Perelli admits however, that the job can be tiring, especially when you’re dialing numbers for hours at a time with little to show for it.
“It surprised me how little people want to participate,” Perelli explained. “Out of 200 calls, we only get about three real responses.”
When over 100 employees are present, those three responses are necessary pieces of the larger picture. They add up to create that invaluable snapshot in time.
But besides the paycheck, Perelli says learning to speak clearly and confidently by interviewing respondents is immensely beneficial as a rising journalist.
“I’ve learned how to be confident in what I am saying and how to articulate my words so that others can understand me,” Perelli said. “This is a great skill to have in any career.”
Senior political science major Hannah Ellis agreed, but noted observing geographical political differences as one of the most interesting aspects of the job.
“It’s been really eye opening to see how people view certain political issues, especially as a political science major,” Ellis said. “I used to intern for a political messaging firm that took polling data and used it to form campaign messaging for politicians and it’s so interesting to see how these polls are collected.”
Quinnipiac Poll Whitney Avenue building
Understanding the inner workings of data collection is not the only skill students are taking away from working at the Poll, however. Junior political science and economics major Tyler Brierley often applies information he’s gathered at work to his classes.
“The surveys we conducted gave me insight into what was going on politically on the state and federal level,” Brierley said. “This helped when I was taking my Congress and the Presidency class as well as my American Political Movements class. We would always talk about current events and their politicalside effects.”
Current events and their political side effects is truly what the whole operation is about. The Quinnipiac Poll works tirelessly to provide a snapshot in time, from data collection to analysis and presentation, and everything in between.
Schwartz and his team show no plans of slowing down as we plug along towards 2020, and the Quinnipiac Poll will surely remain the place to go for the most accurate snapshots of our ever-changing political landscape.
Quinnipiac University Polling Institute at West Woods location
