It’s a tough time to run a restaurant. The spread of COVID-19 has forced many Hamden businesses to operate differently, including some of the most popular restaurants.
Although one of the busiest spots in Hamden, Eli’s On Whitney, is still offering delivery and take-out services, it has seen its business suffer.
Paul Mendillo, a host at Eli’s On Whitney, says that the restaurant isn’t even bringing a quarter of what it was in normal times.
Sergio’s Pizza, a local restaurant that still offers takeout.
Sergio’s Pizza is also dealing with the ramifications of the spread of Coronavirus, but it hasn’t hurt business as much as it expected. Co-owner Rena Pascual says that although dine-in is no longer available, delivery and take-out services have the phone lines busy.
“We’re getting a tremendous amount of support,” Pascual said. “For now, we’re getting people who probably wouldn’t have come because there are less options available right now. We’re trying to accommodate as many people as we can.”
Pascual said that Sergio’s has taken all of the proper regulations and precautions to avoid the spread of Coronavirus.
“Our delivery workers are wearing gloves and staying six feet apart,” Pascual said. “We’re allowing only one person in the restaurant at a time for take-out.”
Popular spots like Ray and Mike’s now face empty parking lots.
It’s not only open restaurants that are impacted by this pandemic, it’s new and upcoming ones as well. Funcles Cafe is the establishment replacing B&D Deli on Whitney Ave. in Hamden. The cafe was originally scheduled to open this April, but Funcles co-owner Don Jablon expects the grand opening to be postponed.
“These are definitely tough times,” Jablon said. “Restaurants are closing indefinitely and tons of people are getting laid off. Nobody knows the outcome of this and how serious it will get. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed and praying I can afford the bills until we open.”
Jablon added that the health department already cancelled the pre-opening inspection that was scheduled for last Friday, and he hasn’t heard back from the town about permits.
“Right now we’re facing a wall,” Jablon said. “It’s sad.”
Buddy Bengel, a Quinnipiac graduate, is running for Lt. Gov. in North Carolina. Photo Courtesy: https://buddyfornc.com/
A Quinnipiac University graduate is making a name for himself in North Carolina.
Buddy Bengel, a graduate of the class of 2004, recently ran for Lt. Gov of North Carolina. The election, which took place on Tuesday, March 3rd, had Bengel come up short as a republican primary candidate. However, despite receiving less than 10 percent of total votes, Bengel isn’t discouraged about his future in politics.
“We’ll see what tomorrow brings,” Bengel said. “For the immediate future, I’ll be focusing on my companies and making sure they are running smoothly.”
Bengel, who attended Quinnipiac on a scholarship to play Division I baseball, now owns a restaurant called Baker’s Kitchen in New Bern, North Carolina.
He can also be found on the baseball field mentoring players of the Morehead City Marlins, a collegiate summer baseball team Bengel founded in 2010. The Marlins are a dream that became a reality after his college business plan came to life.
“I actually wrote the business plan for the Marlins in a class at Quinnipiac,” Bengel said. “It was really where I made a blueprint for everything during my senior year.”
Bengel acknowledges that he wouldn’t have this professional success without his experiences at Quinnipiac.
“Overall, it was a wonderful experience. From the classroom to the baseball field, it taught me a whole lot of things and I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for Quinnipiac.”
John Arcangelo, a 2002 Quinnipiac graduate, serves as the Senior Director of Alumni & Parent Relations and Annual Giving at the university. He shared his thoughts on what it means for Quinnipiac to have such influential alumni.
“We’re very proud of our alumni who demonstrate their commitment to uplifting their communities by running for elected office,” Arcangelo said. “Working to improve our local and global communities is one of the four pillars of our strategic plan.”
Arcangelo also says that Bengel’s success can have a positive impact on alumni-related goals.
“Fostering lifelong connections and success with our alumni is at the heart of everything we do in alumni affairs,” Arcangelo said. “Celebrating and connecting with alumni such as Buddy will inspire other members of our Bobcat family to get involved with not only the QU community, but in their local communities as well.”
Bengel says he has been in touch with Quinnipiac about helping to build new baseball and softball stadiums.
“We’ve formed a booster club, where we have been raising money to help the baseball and softball programs,” Bengel said. “We’ve been raising money every year to support those programs. It’s important to us and we want to see baseball and softball get a new playing facility on campus there.”
Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson spoke to a crowd of 200 at the Quinnipiac Diversity Dinner. Courtesy: Peter O’Neill
Quinnipiac celebrated Black History Month on Tuesday night, with a dinner that featured Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice, Richard A. Robinson.
Robinson, who is Connecticut’s first black Chief Justice, spoke in front of over 200 people at the event about the amazing changes that have occurred throughout his life as it relates to racism. However, he acknowledged that there is still an extremely long way to go.
“I think these kinds of events are very important,” Robinson said. “We need to have dialogues about race, history, ethnicity, and culture. These are conversations that aren’t going on enough in our country.”
Robinson believes that this event sets a great tone for the university, but would like to see more diversity at next year’s event. Afterward, many students and professors spoke one-on-one with Robinson.
“I don’t think people expressed any concerns that were unexpected,” Robinson said. “People are concerned about what’s going on today, but mainly people came up to me and said that they were glad to have been there for the conversations that took place that night.”
Quinnipiac’s vice president for equity and inclusion, Don Sawyer, joined Chief Justice Robinson on stage at the dinner. Sawyer believes that this event is an important part of promoting inclusivity at Quinnipiac.
“When we talk about inclusive excellence, we want to make people from different cultures feel welcome on campus,” Sawyer said. “This event aimed to do just that.”
Although Quinnipiac has previously honored Black History Month with public speakers, this is the first time it has been celebrated with the dinner format. Although he considers it a successful event, he acknowledged that one event doesn’t create the change that is needed. He elaborated on some of the other ways in which Quinnipiac tries to promote diversity and inclusion.
“Last semester we had an open forum on inclusion,” Sawyer said, “where faculty, staff, and students were able to express any concerns that they have on campus, and also the things that were going well.”
Sawyer said that the issues discussed will be compiled and released in a public document in the near future, and mentioned that inclusive excellence is the second pillar in Quinnipiac’s strategic plan.
Despite Quinnipiac’s efforts to increase inclusivity and diversity on campus, there are still obstacles that need to be hurdled. Sawyer mentioned that some professors shy away from difficult topics in the classroom.
“Students have mentioned a need for diversity programs where everyone can learn from one another,” Sawyer said, “so I think it’s important for us to create spaces where we can have an intentional dialogue.”
One student who attended the Black History Month dinner is junior Andrew DePass. DePass is the executive chair of Quinnipiac’s multicultural student leadership council, which aims to advocate for minorities and students of color on campus. He is passionate about creating a more inclusive environment at Quinnipiac.
Don Sawyer stands alongside Judy Oilan, and her husband Peter Liberti. Courtesy: Peter O’Neill
“The overarching theme is that there are instances where people don’t know how to interact with people of certain cultures,” DePass said. “Oftentimes misconceptions and misunderstandings occur. Another thing we feel is that when students try to bring up incidents, oftentimes there is a quieting of those concerns. They aren’t handled as seriously by the administration as we’d like.”
As it relates to the Black History Month dinner, DePass is glad that the event took place and that there were notable people of color honored and in attendance.
“When you are on a campus where the professor doesn’t always look like you, you can start to doubt whether you have a place in a particular career field,” DePass said. “Having the Chief Justice there was very beneficial. I saw lots of students speaking with him afterward, and having interactions that were positive so that we can all continue to persist.”
As it relates to the administration at Quinnipiac, Sawyer is the only person of color on Quinnipiac president Judy Olian’s cabinet. He does not believe that this is concerning, however.
“President Olian understands that our cabinet is not the most diverse, and so we work to diversify the pools of positions that we’re hiring,” Sawyer said. “I think over the next year or so, we might see some shifts.”
Sawyer added that the university has also made great strides in diversifying staff as it relates to gender, but there is still a long way to go in the journey of creating more overall diversity.
The Hamden Police Department is now accepting applications for its 11th session of the Hamden Citizen’s Police Academy.
The academy, which will begin on March 26, is designed to provide residents with important knowledge through education and conversation.
Hamden Police Capt. Ronald Smith spoke about the importance of the training program.
Members of the 2019 Hamden Citizens Police Academy pose for a group photo.
Detective John Inglese/Hamden Police Department
“It gives us the opportunity to explain to our residents, business owners, and college students, what the Hamden police department does and why we do things the way that we do,” Smith said. “It also gives us an opportunity to listen to our residents’ complaints about how we can make their lives better.”
Smith adds the academy’s origin stems from the ever-changing role of a police officer.
“The primary focus is now on community policing, so we here at the Hamden Police Department are always looking to engage the community in certain types of events,” Smith said. “The Citizen’s Police Academy has been highly successful and the people that have attended have enjoyed it immensely.”
Hamden’s Acting Deputy Chief, John Sullivan, shares his thoughts on the academy.
“We’re learning from them just as well as they’re learning from us,” Sullivan said. “It’s created a really good bond with the people we serve and a very good teaching tool for everyone. Citizens are more aware of their surroundings and what’s going on in the community.”
Sullivan mentions that the information makes people more useful as witnesses.
As it relates to the involvement of Quinnipiac University, Sullivan believes there is tremendous value in the academy and he encourages all students to attend.
Smith also acknowledged that Quinnipiac students have enrolled in the past and he hopes to see more in the future.
“You don’t have to make every class. If you only make a few, at least you are learning something. We encourage Quinnipiac University students to attend this class because it’s fun,” Smith said. “It’s not a classroom where someone is just providing you information on a PowerPoint, it’s interactive with a lot of laughs, and there’s a canine demonstration, which a lot of people enjoy.”
Smith adds that the academy has made people feel more comfortable living in Hamden.
“We just want to make sure that everybody enjoys their time here in Hamden and if there is an issue, we’re here to provide them the assistance that they need. It’s been a positive experience and I haven’t heard anything negative about it.”
Hamden’s Deputy Directors for Emergency Management, Bob Freeman, is happy he completed the program.
Freeman, who’s been involved in emergency management for over 40 years and is the current Coordinator for Hamden’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), believes that the program is worthy of peoples’ time.
“Without exaggerating, this program was one of the most rewarding presentations that I have been part of in my entire career,” Freeman said.
The academy helped Freeman understand the stress and commitment that it takes to be a law enforcement officer. He also commends the Hamden Police Department for putting it all together.
“The instruction and information presented by Captain Ron Smith, Sergeant Brent Zuscin and their Brother & Sister Police Officers were beyond excellence and displayed every part of the job they do,” Freeman said.
A recent study ranked Quinnipiac University in the top three percent of U.S. universities for long term value.
Quinnipiac University’s campus. Courtesy: Kevin Meiselman
The study, conducted by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, analyzed the long-term return on investment of 4,500 colleges and universities. Analysis was based on graduates’ future earnings up to 40 years after completion of their degree.
The same report also ranked Quinnipiac in the top 100 for its graduates’ median 10-year earnings at $63,300 a year. Vice President of Enrollment Management Eric Sykes discussed the impact this study could have on admissions.
“It really legitimizes what we’ve been talking about with prospective students,” Sykes said. “Quinnipiac is the kind of place where we’re all about outcomes. We’re very practical in our education. Students are going to get a lot of hands-on experience with faculty. We differentiate ourselves in that way from other schools, and this is really just evidence of what we’ve been saying.”
Quinnipiac continues to differentiate itself, as this isn’t the first time the university has been recognized with such an honor.
“This isn’t the first study to come out with differences in outcomes between Quinnipiac and other institutions,” he continued. “I think within the state of Connecticut, we are ranked number one. As families look at the return of investment and the value of a degree, studies like this allow us to talk more about the evidence behind those pieces we’ve been talking about up to this point.”
Sykes didn’t say that this study would lead directly to more applications, but he noted that it can’t hurt to be mentioned alongside other highly respected colleges and universities, especially in a respected ranking system.
“It’s hard to know any one data point that’s going to really move the needle on those, but it certainly helps us to underscore the message that we’ve already been speaking about. It allows us to talk to students and parents about the value of a Quinnipiac degree,” he said.
