Category: Capstone projects

The Fight for Morality: Quinnipiac’s Efforts to Strike Down Hate

By Brooke Reilly

“Hate crimes in the U.S. have increased, so I wouldn’t be surprised if college campuses were acting as a microcosm of the greater U.S.,” said Quinnipiac University Student Government Association President Austin Calvo.

Calvo is a senior at Quinnipiac University, where he is studying political science. He is openly gay and was the victim of multiple hate crimes at Quinnipiac while he was running for SGA positions. These crimes emotionally hurt him.

“Freshman year it kinda sucked because I was just a little freshman,” Calvo said. “I didn’t really have my place at Quinnipiac yet and all those kinds of things, so it just kind of like hurt and made me realize how much people still suck.” 

The first crime against Calvo took place in the spring of 2017 when he was running for sophomore class president. Calvo had three running mates who were also running for class SGA positions. The four students hung up posters around campus to campaign prior to elections. At the height of campaign season, Calvo received a call from one of his running mates telling him that someone vandalized one of their posters and to come by her room to see it.

“I went by her room, and I saw what was written on it,” Calvo said. “It was just like penises, like defacing it and something written about me, like me being gay, like a word bubble coming out of my mouth.”

Calvo then spoke with a resident assistant (RA) about this issue. The RA brought this to the attention of the residence hall director, and they filed a report within student affairs. 

The second incident occurred in April 2019 while Calvo was running for SGA president. 

“I was running for an executive board position, so I had posters up all over both campuses,” Calvo said. “It was in Irma (residence hall), I believe, there was a poster that I had to face. Someone wrote something about me, just like a slur about me being gay or something.”

Although it was similar to the situation Calvo went through two years earlier, he felt differently than he did as a first-year student.

“The one (hate crime) that happened last year (hurt) a little bit less so just because I was like, I’m very confident,” Calvo said. “I’m very sure of myself, and I love myself, and I love who I am. I was like, whatever, someone can hate me. It doesn’t affect me. Who cares?” 

Calvo is confident about who he is, but if this were to happen to someone else, he isn’t sure that person would have the same response.

“People of marginalized populations spend their entire lives trying to love themselves for who they are, and then all it takes is one thing like that to tear down years of confidence building,” Calvo said. 

When crimes that occur on college campuses are reported, specific steps are taken when investigating and filing reports. 

According to clerycenter.org, “the Clery Act is a consumer protection law that aims to provide transparency around campus crime policy and statistics.”

The Clery Act requires every college and university across the country to release an annual security and fire safety report by Oct. 1 of each year. This is called the Clery report and includes a record of all reported crimes that occurred between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of the year prior. This document is required to be made available to the public. Quinnipiac’s 2019 Clery report was released on Sept. 23, 2019.  


Karoline Keith, Quinnipiac University Clery Compliance Officer

Karoline Keith, Quinnipiac University Clery Compliance Officer

When the crime was first committed, Calvo was busy campaigning for president, so he did not report it right away. At the beginning of this semester, he decided that he should report it; however, he did not go through student affairs this time. Calvo reported the incident directly to the Quinnipiac University Clery Compliance Officer Karoline Keith.

As stated in Quinnipiac’s Clery report, the Clery Compliance Officer must work with the Department of Public Safety, local and state law enforcement, Office of Human Resources, Office of Residential Life, Office of Student Affairs, Division of Athletics, the Title IX coordinator, the deans, the Office of Cultural and Global Engagement and other campus security authorities to track any crimes that take place throughout the year. This is tracked in all areas where students live in Quinnipiac housing. This includes the Mount Carmel campus, the York Hill campus, the North Haven campus, when students travel to conferences or games paid for by the university and students who are studying abroad at places that partner with Quinnipiac.

“Things reported to me this year, in 2019, will be reflected in the 2020 annual security report,” Keith said. “It’s always a year behind.”

According to page 52 of Quinnipiac’s Clery report, “there are four categories of offenses that are required by law for statistical documentation within this report.” These include: criminal offenses, such as murder, sex offenses and other identified serious crimes; VAWA offenses (Violence Against Women Act), such as domestic violence, dating violence and stalking offenses; arrest and referrals for disciplinary action and hate crimes. 

Calvo’s incidents are both considered hate crimes on the basis of sexuality, so they fall under the category of offense. Both incidents will appear in the log for the 2020 Clery report reflecting crimes that were reported in 2019. Although the first incident occurred in 2017, it was not reported to Keith until last month along with the incident from April 2019. It is too late to go back and change the statistics from the 2017 Clery Report. 

“The Clery statistics reflect numbers on the time they were reported, not the time they occurred,” Keith said. “If something is reported to me this year that occurred last year or two years ago, it would show up in the statistics for the next annual security report that reflects those that year.”

 Although all reported crimes are said to be cited in the Clery report, some may not appear in the annual report for various reasons, including people not coming forward with crimes or miscommunications between offices. 

“I’d like to think that if they’ve (students) reported it (a crime) to a campus security authority or to one of my campus partners that that statistic would definitely be reflected in these statistics,” Keith said. “But, I do know that whether they want to talk about it is entirely up to whether or not they want to.”  

In 2018, the majority of crimes reported took place on the Mount Carmel campus. Very few crimes occurred on the York Hill campus, and no crimes were reported on the North Haven campus. 

Over the course of the last three years, the numbers indicated for each crime have fluctuated back and forth. Some noteworthy numbers include rapes, burglary, drug law violation arrests, and hate crimes.


Clery report statistics comparing the number of recorded rapes, drug law violations arrests, burglaries and hate crimes in 2016, 2017 and 2018

Clery report statistics comparing the number of recorded rapes, drug law violations arrests, burglaries and hate crimes in 2016, 2017 and 2018

In this case, the increase in hate crimes on campus is noteworthy. There were two incidents reported in 2016, one in 2017 and five in 2018. 

“There’s a lot going on with our society and our culture and our Supreme Court and the media in those areas,” Keith said. “You start to look at what’s going on outside of the university because we’re just a subculture right of that.”


E-mail sent to all residential students by Quinnipiac University Director of Residential Life Mark DeVilbiss on Nov. 4, 2019.

E-mail sent to all residential students by Quinnipiac University Director of Residential Life Mark DeVilbiss on Nov. 4, 2019.

The university continues to see an increase in hate crimes across campus. On Nov. 4, Director of Residential Life Mark DeVilbiss sent an e-mail to all residential students addressing “recent incidents involving the alleged use of derogatory and racist language by Quinnipiac students.” 

“The university prohibits bias and discrimination on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, ability, national origin, age, gender identity, gender expression, sex, sexual orientation or veteran status,” DeVilbiss said in the e-mail.

DeVilbiss said that he has seen bias related incidents through the use of derogatory and racial terms throughout his time with the university over the last three years. 

“That happens sometimes both in person, sometimes it has been in the form of a social media post or graffiti occasionally or vandalism of some kind,” DeVilbiss said. “We don’t have a ton of incidents, but we have some, and we address those.” 

During RA training sessions, a topic that is heavily stressed is identity.

“Last August, a keynote speaker (came), we had time to break out into small groups to discuss,” DeVilbiss said. “We want to make sure that our staffs are educated about the many different types of identity and whether that’s racial, gender identity, abilities, all of that, we talk about that.”

The RAs are trained on how to respond to information that they learn as well. They are told to take pictures or screenshots if it is on social media and collect details. This allows the Office of Residential Life to follow up appropriately once an incident is reported.They are also taught how to respond sensitively by using inclusive language and providing comfort. 

“We seek always to support the people who are involved,” DeVilbiss said. “It can be challenging to support because being the subject or discriminated against in that way is a very traumatic experience for students and can be very emotional.” 

DeVilbiss encouraged students to fill out an incident report form if they are aware of any hateful behaviors occurring on campus.


Hamden Police Department

Hamden Police Department

“We file incident reports, Residential Life incident reports, for all incidents that involve bias and discrimination,” DeVilbiss said. “Then those are reviewed by our Student Conduct Office in consultation with our Clery Officer, who would then include that data in the annual Clery report.” 

The Hamden Police Department works closely with the Department of Public Safety when it comes to crimes on campus. Between Jan. 1, 2019 and Oct. 1, 2019, Hamden police responded to calls on the Mount Carmel campus on 339 occasions, and they responded to the York Hill campus 75 times. Most of these were general patrols because the university hires the department to do nightly patrols. The majority of the other reasons that they came to campus were for motor vehicle accidents, intoxicated persons and general medical calls. 

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Case incident reports for the Mount Carmel campus (left) and York Hill campus (right)

“Even when they don’t hire us, the area car is going to go over there and patrol it (campus) normally and also take complaints there,” said Sgt. Anthony Diaz of the Hamden Police Department. “If it’s a serious call for whatever reason, they’ll send two cars in addition to a supervisor.” 


Timely warning e-mail from Quinnipiac University Chief of Public Safety Edgar Rodriguez

Timely warning e-mail from Quinnipiac University Chief of Public Safety Edgar Rodriguez

On Nov. 13, Chief of the Department of Public Safety Edgar Rodriguez notified the Quinnipiac community about a student who reported being sexually assaulted just outside of campus. The notification came via email as a timely warning to comply with the Clery Act. The student reported that the incident occurred at the intersection between New Road and Mount Carmel Avenue.

In a situation like this, the Hamden Police Department has to step in to assist with the investigation.

“The special victims unit, they’re going to investigate that type of crime,” Diaz said. “It’s not going to be like a patrolman function or an officer who was hired there just for patrolling factors. He might do the initial investigation, but we’re going to call in the detective division and let those guys who specialize in that stuff handle that case.” 

Hamden Police have not found the men accused of the assault, so Quinnipiac’s Title IX office can’t do much to help since its job is to help remedy hostile situations. But sometimes, even if the accused is known, Title IX offices don’t always help. That was the case at DePaul University in Chicago earlier this year.

Student reporters wondered why DePaul’s Title IX office wasn’t represented at sexual assault awareness month events in April. Ella Lee and Emma Oxnevad are editors for The DePaulia, which is the university’s student-run newspaper. Upon noticing this, they decided to take matters into their own hands and investigate.


The DePaulia, DePaul University’s student-run newspaper

The DePaulia, DePaul University’s student-run newspaper

They began by going to more sexual assault awareness events and speaking with groups on campus who were directly involved with these events. They then sent out a survey to the student body by posting in class group Facebook pages asking about students experiences with the Title IX office. Students were allowed to remain anonymous if they chose to because of the sensitivity of the topic.

“We did have one instance of a student who gave her name and was willing to be quoted under a fake name, who said that she had an encounter with the office where she was assaulted at a campus event,” Oxnevad said. “She was told by whoever she was in contact with within that office (Title IX) that they had spoken to the person she had accused prior to meeting with her, and that given that she had been drinking at this event, or that she had admitted to drinking, that they couldn’t believe her story.”

The only response that the Title IX office gave the student was that she should go to counseling for alcoholism. This alarmed Lee and Oxnevad because it proved to them that things were not being handled properly within the Title IX office. 

They published the student’s story, but they could not get in contact with the Title IX coordinator or get a statement from the university. They sent multiple messages but never received a response. After several weeks went by, the DePaulia’s faculty advisor told the student journalists that they needed to get something from the coordinator because it was only showing one side to the story.

They decided to go to the Title IX office to ask to speak with the Title IX coordinator in person. When they got there, a student worker was at the front desk. They explained what they were inquiring, and the worker set up an appointment for them to meet with the coordinator.

The following day, their advisor was sent an email from the dean of the School of Communications who received word that Lee and Oxnevad had faked being assaulted to get an interview. The students both said this was completely incorrect and there must have been miscommunication along the way.

“There was talk about there maybe having to be a student trial, but then obviously, the coordinator or whoever in the Title IX office backtracked and said that it didn’t happen and that she misunderstood the situation,” Lee said.

The students had finally received permission to interview Jessica Landis, who was the Title IX coordinator at the time and released her response to their original story. After the story was published, Landis left the university in the middle of her contract. The students did not know if she was fired or if she quit, but they believe that it had to do with the story they wrote. 

At the beginning of the fall 2019 semester, DePaul hired a new director of gender equity. This role was previously known as the Title IX coordinator. Lee and Oxnevad sat down to interview Ann Skiffington on Nov. 11, who was hired for this position, to learn more about the Title IX office and what her role is.

 Lee and Oxnevad said that the most important thing that they learned is that Title IX officers must remain objective and cannot support any students in their cases. They felt that a lot of students were not aware of that. 

 “The Title IX office could be mishandling cases, but also, they’re not there to be a shoulder to cry on,” Lee said.

The student journalists said that they believe that there is still more to the story about issues within the university’s Title IX office.

When asked her opinion on the Title IX issues at DePaul University, Quinnipiac University Title IX Coordinator Catlin Wells said, “I cannot speak to the specifics of the DePaul case. I can tell you, however, that Quinnipiac University takes seriously all allegations of discrimination. Students have a right under the federal law, and under university policies, to file a complaint of discrimination or misconduct. Additionally, students have a right to a prompt, thorough and impartial response.” 

Although there are not any current issues within Quinnipiac’s Title IX office, there have been previous issues prior to when Wells began in December 2018. One of these issues included a case that went to trial in July 2019 saying that the university was “motivated to favor female students over male students in its (Title IX) disciplinary proceedings.” This was an older case from 2017.

“As a Title IX coordinator, it is my responsibility to treat everyone who comes through my door with dignity and respect and to give all students an opportunity to be heard,” Wells said.

 The result has meant more work for Wells and her office, but students know they have a safe place to go when they encounter a hostile environment.

“I train on every single policy,” Wells said.  “I have found that as I have trained the institution more, we’ve seen an uptick in reporting overall realistically because people know where to go if something happens.  When people know who to tell, they’re more likely to share that information.” 

That information can lead to courageous students.

 “The spirit of Clery is intended to give guidance to prospective students and students that are going here to whether or not they would want to come here and how the university in general is, what kind of crimes are occurring here,” Keith said. “I think the next question, the Clery report, the annual security report, is embedded with what we’re doing to protect our students and what we’re doing in the area of being proactive rather than reactive.”

Calvo has another idea that he believes can help, which is having conversations about hate crimes and their impact on students.

“Being gay is just part of my identity, but it’s not who I am,” Calvo said. “I think that just kind of having dialogue and conversations can really work to reduce hate crimes.”

Stepping Off the Back Line Into the Professional World; How Improvisational Acting is Helping College Students Get An Edge


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Imagine being on a stage, in front of a live audience. No script. No lines. No costumes. Just you and another scene partner sharing a common goal of making the audience before you laugh or feel engaged. For some, this is nightmare fuel, but for someone who has practiced the art of improvisational acting this is a place of comfort.

According to Britannica improvisation is, “The playing of dramatic scenes without written dialogue and with minimal or no predetermined dramatic activity. The method has been used for different purposes in theatrical history.”


James Freeman and Frank Scott of Quinnipiac’s Improv troupe communicate during a scene.

James Freeman and Frank Scott of Quinnipiac’s Improv troupe communicate during a scene.

This definition uses words like “drama” and “theatrical”, but this style of acting is becoming a key tool in how college students get an edge above other college students when applying to jobs and entering the professional world.

Take Josh Gudelski for example, a law student at Quinnipiac University who stepped outside of his comfort zone and took an improv class, because he recognized how diverse this skill can be.

“No matter what your ambitions are in life, you have to be quick on your feet, and that is what improv taught me.” He said, “It also helped me communicate well with others under pressure, which also helps in my profession.”

This is an underrated style of acting that if practiced can improve a student’s communication skills, improve their performance under high pressure situations, and display the confidence needed to separate oneself to employers.

Neil Mullarkey, a co-founder of the Comedy Store Players told Financial Magazine, “Improv can be about finding ways to convey your story to nonfinance colleagues in a way that makes sense to them, and to convince people that this is the best way to go. More broadly it’s about how we work with others, how we notice other people’s feelings and stay truly in the moment.”

The United Kingdom National Theatre organization says, this style of acting dates all the way back to the mid 1500s when groups would travel town to town to preform and entertain. Many improv theater games were introduced in the 1920s and 30s to warm actors up for a performance. The actors only use word suggestion or story inspiration from the audience or fellow actors. In today’s world people are now beginning to realize that this style of acting, and the techniques behind it strongly relate to everyday life in the professional world. Main strategies like listening, body language, effective communication, team building, preforming under stress, and creativity. Each one of those strategies that improv brings together to make a scene can be brought together for a college student to perform in a job interview, and when that students gets that job become a strong employee.

Kevin Daly, an assistant professor of theater at Quinnipiac University, agrees that listening is one of the most important skills in improv and in the real world.

“Whatever it is you’re doing you’re still going to need to have really sharp listening skills to be successful,” he says.


Sarah Fisher expresses ideas to Kevin Cathy, both members of Quinnipiac’s Improv troupe.

Sarah Fisher expresses ideas to Kevin Cathy, both members of Quinnipiac’s Improv troupe.

Daly teaches two improvisational acting classes at Quinnipiac and develops the students who are brave enough to try his class, like Gudelski. He also fully believes that practicing improvisational acting can help students in whatever profession they choose,

“You develop the skills to sort of take a breath out there and say OK I don’t have to force this, I can develop through agreement that will have a payoff at the end,” he says.

He also preaches that practicing improv can elevate you as a stand out employee, “Anyone in any sort of business situation says we need an idea. Right there they’re not saying I want the most obvious idea, or the most specific, or the most close to home idea. They want you to expand and improve,” he says.


A map of the amount of Improv theaters across the United States. Source: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?f=q&geocode&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&mid=1RGQSrvG85vYHFZLgFe9OjKh6XPk&ll=42.10150538933923%2C-95.65166262499997&z=4

A map of the amount of Improv theaters across the United States.

Source: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?f=q&geocode&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&mid=1RGQSrvG85vYHFZLgFe9OjKh6XPk&ll=42.10150538933923%2C-95.65166262499997&z=4

Another career advising expert who stresses the importance of improv skills as a college student is Lila Carney, Director of Career Development within the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University. She is also someone who connects improv with the real world,

“There are a lot of similarities to interviewing and improvisational acting. And I also think when you get into the workplace you’re dealing with a lot of different conflicting situations, and having the ability to make decisions that have a positive impact on you, your job, and your company that you work for are all great skills to have,” she says.

One of Carney’s concerns though is that students aren’t consciously connecting improv acting and job interviews.

“They don’t connect the two necessarily consciously maybe subconsciously. I think every job interview you do is improv related and every networking opportunity that you experience has improv built in. But I don’t think students consciously make that connection, but they are doing it everywhere they go,” she says.

Another communications expert who put these skills into action in his profession is Kenneth Venit. Venit worked in television for decades, and coached many news broadcasters who worked for the Fox News Channel and more. Part of his longevity and success, and what he taught certain broadcasters was improv.

“In broadcasting just everything was live in the studio. Then it became live in the field. So we had to adjust the skill set because we didn’t have the filtering system of writing a lot of stories that we were going to be read first. You were thinking on your feet. With all of the laws you had to make sure you were saying the right things,” he says.


Fisher, Cathy, and Kirsten Koeding all listen to their scene partner and wait to respond.

Fisher, Cathy, and Kirsten Koeding all listen to their scene partner and wait to respond.

In a profession like broadcast news, breaking news can happen at any moment which is why Venit stresses the importance of thinking on your feet, which is a big skill in improvisational acting. Venit admires the beauty of improv and how it is a healthy challenge for anyone willing to try it.

“When its improv somebody else has led you to that point. It’s not that you did something voluntarily. You are somewhere you didn’t necessarily think you’d be or plan to be.” He continued saying, “If you think of how a meeting in a business works or even an interview, somebody else is doing so impulsively and I think there is references to it.”

Three experts echoing the importance that trying improvisational acting, and practicing this unique hobby has plenty of benefits. As college students the goal after graduation is to obtain a job in the field you love. Now more than ever students need to recognize the importance of this hidden gem that is improvisational acting. One can become one step closer, and have a step above others who want to obtain the same job in the field of that students choice.

The other unique thing about improvisational acting and how it relates to the work world is its diversity. The strategies of improv can also relate to professions that do not relate to communications or theater. Gina Pallanta and Bridget Kavanagh are two women who have experience in improv at Quinnipiac, Hartford, and New York City and who currently work in health science fields: Pallanta as an emergency room nurse and Kavanagh as an occupational therapist. Both recognize that within their job force body language, quick thinking, and team chemistry is vital.

For Pallanta, lives can be in danger if she doesn’t make certain decisions quickly enough, and is grateful to have the improv experience that she does.

“Working with other health care professionals it’s good to have that mentality because especially an emergency you don’t know what’s coming,” Pallanta said, “And you don’t know what you’re walking into and you want to have that fluid aspect to be able to be flexible.”

Kavanagh tries to add in a humorous and conversational aspects to her work, while thinking on her feet. Both skills she learned as an improvisational actor. Using that quick humor, she makes sure her clients feel comfortable.

“You’ve got to deal with caseloads you’ve got to deal with people’s disabilities. They’re in a place like a nursing home that they don’t really want to be,” Kavanagh said, “So having that humor and having that ability to build rapport and have a conversation with these people helps motivate them.”

Communication and health science are not the only professions improvisational acting helps with either. Justin Furtado, a man who also gained his improv skills at Quinnipiac, is gaining a masters in finance, and when working with his co-workers is when his improv skills come out to play.


Scott responds quickly to one of his scene partners ideas.

Scott responds quickly to one of his scene partners ideas.

“A lot of times the better improviser in the scene is usually the one that is less funny because they’re able to give everything to their partner and make their partner seem like an absolute star. And that is probably the most important part of looking into the team is you don’t try and make it all about yourself. You act as a supplement to the team,” he said.

Listening, body language, effective communication, team building, performing under stress, and creativity: All skills that experts echo help you with job interviews and becoming a strong employee. Now all it takes is for students to be brave enough to practice the art. If students want the edge they must take a leap of faith, step outside their comfort zone, and grow.

College Basketball’s Free Agency: The Transfer Portal

By Bryan Schwartz

Imagine a LinkedIn-style site for college athletes who want to attend a new school. Aaron Falzon experienced the real thing.

“I put my name in,” said Falzon, who now attends Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. “I went to go write my 20-page paper. 30 minutes later I had four emails, two texts and five missed calls, and I was like, what is going on?”


Aaron Falzon warms up for his first home game at Quinnipiac against Albany. (Photo by Liz Flynn)

Aaron Falzon warms up for his first home game at Quinnipiac against Albany. (Photo by Liz Flynn)

Welcome to the NCAA Transfer Portal, where the students can enter their name into a system that serves as a gateway to the vast reservoir of colleges seeking top athletic talent.

The NCAA opened the portal Oct. 15, 2018, to give students the opportunity to change schools without the hassle of sitting out a year per long-standing transfer rules. 

The portal gives athletes a chance to seek opportunities – the role of college in general. But it has turned into something much, much more, even for mid-major Division I schools such as Quinnipiac.

Quinnipiac men’s basketball head coach Baker Dunleavy has recruited five transfer students, including one through the portal in Falzon. The portal is a profound development for the school. 

“The wave of transfers isn’t going anywhere,” Dunleavy said. “It’ll only get bigger. It’ll only get more popular. I think player movement and freedom is something that continues to grow.”

The Good

The Bobcats took advantage of the portal to land Falzon, who previously attended Northwestern, a Big Ten school. Dunleavy found him on the portal and sent one of those emails that overwhelmed the Massachusetts-born player. 

Why did Falzon leave a major school outside of Chicago to attend Quinnipiac in suburban Hamden, and play in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with its one-bid status for the NCAA Tournament? 

“I wanted to go to a place where I have an opportunity to play and have the chance to win a conference championship,” said Falzon of Newton, Mass. “Also, the bonus when I come here is being close to home. Mom and Dad can drive to every game.”

Dunleavy, in turn, saw Falzon as a player who fit the team’s culture.

“For us, we can be really opportunistic with transfers when they fit our culture and our identity and really being disciplined in knowing when that’s the case,” Dunleavy said. “With an Aaron Falzon, that was the case. We were really aggressive to recruit Aaron.” 

The Bad 

Jaden Daly, a sports writer for A Daly Dose of Hoops, has been covering New York-metro area men’s college basketball for 10 years. Daly has seen both sides of the story: the high-major schools bringing in players that out-matched their competition on the mid-major front and the mid-major schools taking advantage of this chance to recruit the nation’s top talents. 

“The lower level schools are losing out because now it’s created a marketplace where if you are a higher major and you’re losing out in recruiting, it’s a ripple effect with the one-and-done’s. You have to go to the next best option,” Daly said.

That next option? Well, it’s plucking the best of the best from conferences like the MAAC. In the portal era so far, Quinnipiac has not been a team that has had to see players leave to other schools. However just three years ago the Bobcats were forced to wave goodbye to their two top scorers in Mikey Dixon and Peter Kiss. Dixon joined St. John’s in the Big East and Kiss is now playing at Rutgers in the Big 10.


Mikey Dixon (left) and Peter Kiss (right) pose together during their freshman year at Quinnipiac. (Photo by QBSN)

Mikey Dixon (left) and Peter Kiss (right) pose together during their freshman year at Quinnipiac. (Photo by QBSN)

This has been the issue for mid-major teams in the last calendar year with the portal.

“If you’re a high major coach, you see a 15, 20 point per game scorer that goes into the portal,” Daly said, “why not take a shot at him? If you’re not able to get a one-and-done like a Kentucky or Carolina or Duke is going to get, you have to find some way to keep up with the Joneses.”

The Jury’s Still Out

On the other hand, mid-major schools need to compete with each other, and Quinnipiac’s program is no different: it needs to find talent flying just below the major-school radar. The transfer portal facilitates that effort.

Jessica Hegmann-Grasso, the MAAC’s associate commissioner said, the transfer portal gives these types of schools, especially in her conference, ways to get a hold of the players they would not be able to typically recruit out of high school.

“The transfer option does benefit the mid-major conferences, like ourselves. Being able to get access to those players that may go elsewhere and then come back to us,” Hegmann-Grasso said, “we do benefit from that.”


MAAC men’s basketball has gained 20 transfer student-athletes for the 2019-20 season, while losing 11 in the portal.

MAAC men’s basketball has gained 20 transfer student-athletes for the 2019-20 season, while losing 11 in the portal.

Hegmann-Grasso did point out that we are only in year two of the portal process. There is so much still to come. 

“It has only been two years. It’s still new. Like anything else it takes that adjustment period to see how the full reaction will be from it. Right now it’s waiting and seeing.”

One thing that it has already accomplished is it has made it easier for the student-athletes to explore all of their options. 

“The process to dealing with the transfers prior to the portal was a lot more restrictive, a lot more interaction and conversation,” Hegmann-Grasso said, “where the portal is now making it a little bit more free.”

Is it free enough? Not for ESPN’s Jay Bilas.

The transfer portal has continued to progress this freedom that the student-athletes desire. Phillip Lamar Cunningham, a professor of media studies who formerly served as co-director of the sports studies program at Quinnipiac University said that the portal, itself, has legitimized the power that the student-athletes can have. Though, he does not believe it has had an outstanding impact on the landscape of college athletics.


Falzon stands with his teammates before his first home game with Quinnipiac.

Falzon stands with his teammates before his first home game with Quinnipiac.

“The transfer portal, like most NCAA initiatives, is a little late and doesn’t necessarily change much as much as it capitulates to the forces that they already had to give way to.”

Knowing that you have options is an important part of a young athlete’s mindset, and those are really on full display all the time now. 

“For a small school like Quinnipiac, the benefits are if you’re an elite college athlete, you are coming home,” Cunningham said. “If you are someone that’s on the cusp of a major conference team but you can’t really break through, you can possibly come here [Quinnipiac] and be a star. We see this in every sport. If you are a star in a mid-major you are suddenly more attracted to more established teams.” 

The new rules have led to confusion over the transfer portal’s role. For Hegmann-Grasso and her colleagues in the MAAC’s league offices, they just would like to see it play out a bit more. 

“I think it’s just too early to start changing anything because it took a while to get to this point, and to just change it right away?” Hegmann-Grasso said. “I don’t think we do our due diligence of really setting up a system, even though some were in favor for it and some were not.”

It’s just the start of more and more changes in college basketball, and so far, Quinnipiac can call itself a beneficiary. So far.

The forgotten team: Quinnipiac’s unofficial club baseball team gets left in the dust

By Chris Dacey

When Quinnipiac University President Judy Olian posted news on Instagram last spring that the school would officially sponsor club sports teams, baseball players took notice.

 The players, including many who did not survive the cut for Quinnipiac’s Division I team, immediately applied to make club baseball official.

 “The boys were actually freaking out in the group chat,” said Brendan Cavaco, who helped to start the informal club team in 2017. “We were all excited.”

But the news that followed crushed the team. The Hamden Braves, as they are known, would not be among the group of clubs to receive official sponsorship. Yet the team still competes in club baseball without official sponsorship as it awaits formal university sponsorship.

 “So, everyone found out through like the Twitter and Instagram club pages,” said Finbarr Saunders, an infielder. “Everyone was obviously disappointed because we knew we would be like on our own again.”

 Cavaco and several other players formed the club in 2017 so they could continue to play baseball.

 Cavaco said he understood the decision but added he might have been misled.

 “The only thing that I made some of my teammates and I frustrated was that we were informed by the start of the application process that every team has a clean slate,” Cavaco said. “So even if you’re not established, you know, a fair shot or if you’re established first or prior.”

 Cavaco said the school ended up selecting club teams that have played for years, undermining the clean-slate competition. 

 When asked for a comment, Michael Medina, the associate director for intramurals, pointed to a Q30 Television interview on the launch of club sports for his formal response.

 “The professionalism that we all handled ourselves in the room of giving every team an equal, a fair chance of being a club sport, I have to take my hat off to everybody on the committee who helped me along with this process,” Medina said during the interview.

 Medina added that more club teams could be coming to Quinnipiac soon.

 “I think the university realizes this is an initial investment and that there’s going to be potentially more club sports teams that come around in future years,” Medina said.


Players make the walk to the field at Central Connecticut State for their game on October 26.

Players make the walk to the field at Central Connecticut State for their game on October 26.

 The Braves again found themselves isolated. Back to running the day-to-day operations on their own again. But the questions still remained. Cavaco knew that he couldn’t let this bad news stop him or this team.

 Cavaco and Christian Cooper worked to form the team but learned quickly that they needed to handle such baffling off-the-field pieces such as insurance.

 “Insurance, definitely, lack of funding from the school,” Cooper said. “I mean we’re all generating from each other as far as money goes and field space that still an issue. Just being able to get a baseball field. Honestly, if you can think of it, it’s something we’ve got to deal with.”

 The two decided to form a non-profit organization to serve as the legal infrastructure through which insurance and player dues would be handled.

 Now they needed a team and getting the word out was the next step. When they got the team, the dues from the players were collected and the Braves were now in business.

 “I think that’s pretty interesting that, you know, it’s just a bunch of high-quality baseball players come together to still buy something they love to do,” outfielder John Pesce said.

 And whether they liked the decision made to not bring them on as a club sport or not, the Braves had a season to play in the spring and it was the team’s first full season as a team playing in the American Club Baseball Association. They ended up winning the championship that spring.

 “A lot of guys actually use it like as a chip on our shoulder,” Saunders said. “Like, like they didn’t approve us. Like they don’t want us, you know, like that kind of mentality.”

 But there is a lot that goes into a season like that. Money is a big factor in it all. Money gets you on the field to play and money gets you the umpires to call the game. And that money the Braves have comes from the players on their roster. The players had to pay $250 per semester they were on the team, a total of $500 for the fall and spring.

 “They’ve actually done all, the administrative part,” manager Jim Withington said. “And that includes procuring fields, getting umpires, you know, practice facilities and all that. They do all that out on the road.”


The carpool of Hamden Braves pulls out of Hogan Lot before their game at Central Connecticut State.

The carpool of Hamden Braves pulls out of Hogan Lot before their game at Central Connecticut State.

 Speaking of the road, the Braves have logged a lot of miles on the road too. Road trips mean driving personal cars, not hopping onto a team bus.

 Uniforms still need to be purchased, and the team is searching for a place to practice to stay sharp for ACBA play.

 But one thing that might separate the Braves from the others is the team dynamic. The team plays loose. They have the music going, even if it isn’t considered their home game, and every player has a walk-up song.

 “We work so hard during the week academically that maybe go in the cage for an hour or go in to play baseball for a couple of hours, it’s really meant to like relieve some stress,” Cavaco said about the way his team plays.

 Even their skipper agrees, and Withington does not mind how his team plays loose because they proved they could win that way.

 “They do enjoy themselves but when it’s time to take it seriously and get out and play, they do that too, which they proved,” Withington said.

 At the end of the day, the players on the Braves are just there to keep playing the game they love to play. Even if they aren’t affiliated with the school, they won’t stop them from playing America’s Pastime. But the thought of being a club team of all Quinnipiac students that wasn’t selected as one of the club sports still remains.

 “You just got to deal with what you have. I can’t do anything to change that decision and we’re going to try our best as a team to show that we deserve an affiliation,” Pesce said. “But, you know, we’re all still having a good time. It’s not changing the way we play.”

The reopening of the Sleeping Giant State Park

By Victoria Wauters

With the Sleeping Giant state park being officially reopened for four months now, the love and beauty of the mountain have finally returned.

Although the Sleeping Giant has not always been a state park, it officially became one in 1924. This State Park is known for its two miles of mountaintop, a variety of beginner, intermediate and advanced trails, and lookout points that are accessible to the public. 

On May 15, 2018 a tornado hit Connecticut, damaging multiple areas of land, homes and parks. The Sleeping Giant State Park is one of the biggest monuments that resulted in destruction from the tornado. 

The damage that came with the tornado brought devastation to the Hamden community with how much was affected. However, people did not lose hope about what could be restored and fixed. With the help of volunteers and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection the mountain was  renovated.


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“The summer after I heard about the tornado I remember coming to Hamden and driving by the Sleeping Giant,” Anna Giglio a Quinnipiac University student said. “There were fences along side the street and you literally couldn’t get past them. I remember feeling such a state of sadness because it looked so depressing than how I was used to.”

Although there are many changes in the appearance of the park compared to before and after the tornado, it does not take away from the soul purpose of the mountain. Each season brings a different sense of beauty from each mountaintop and no matter the reason for coming to the mountain, each hiker takes away a memorable view.


This is the Sleeping Giant’s lookout tour.

This is the Sleeping Giant’s lookout tour.

Jenna Hickey, a senior Quinnipiac University student, says she spent many weekends of her freshman year hiking the Giant and taking in the views from the top. One of her favorite spots was hiking to the lookout tour.

“I actually just recently hiked the Giant for the first time since they reopened,” Hickey said. “I was really impressed with how much was cleaned up. I wasn’t expecting it to look as nice as it did but everything looked good as new.” 

According to the New Haven Register, the Sleeping Giant Park Association cleaned up about 32 miles of trails that were congested with fallen trees and branches.

A long time Hamden resident has a similar outlook on the situation. 

“Raising my kids in Hamden, I would always bring them over to the state park,” Christine Metivier said. “It was kind of like a Sunday ritual: we would bring snacks and spend the day there. Going back it was great to see how much effort they put into fixing everything, it’s nice to know that the community still cares.”

While there are some areas that are not fully finished, DEEP put up caution tape to direct the visitors where to go and what paths to find. The state park is now back in full force regardless of the areas that need improvements.


These two images are from the entrance of the State Park that show which parts of the mountain are still undergoing some changes.

These two images are from the entrance of the State Park that show which parts of the mountain are still undergoing some changes.

The community’s feelings post-restoration have fallen back to appreciation, love and enjoyment.

“It’s really awesome to be able to come here and hike,” said Bob Ryan, a Cheshire resident. “Doing something I love with those who love to do this as well. Everyone is happy and friendly on the trails. I always see a smiling face wherever I am. I’m glad this hasn’t changed since all of the messiness that took over.” 

This landmark attracts those from neighboring towns and has turned this state park into a welcoming place for those of all over. It lets individuals embrace a sense of diversity within each person that adventures through the mountain, creating a happy environment for everyone.

 

Although the initial reaction of the community was sadness and hopelessness, they soon realized how change brings a sense of appreciation for something that once was.


Nellie Petriello on her way down the giant after one of the staircases had been cleared.

Nellie Petriello on her way down the giant after one of the staircases had been cleared.

“I kind of took for granted how special the Sleeping Giant was,” Nellie Petriello, a senior at Quinnipiac University said. “I knew this state park was something that everyone loved, but I didn’t realize how much it would affect me once I heard that there was so much damage done. I’m really glad that there our community put an immense amount of time in cleaning it up because it made all the difference.”

As the leaves on the mountain change, it reminds the community that even though change brings a feeling of uncertainty, it also brings happiness. The mountain may have new paths and trails, but the beauty still remains.

The importance of all the destruction that took place on this mountain is learning to be appreciative. The lesson that comes from this tornado is appreciation. Appreciating change and embracing new aspects of the mountain is what makes the Sleeping Giant State Park still great.

Hamden fights blight

How the town of Hamden has started the process to combat blighted and unsightly properties

By Peter Dewey

In a small residential area of southern Hamden, just off of State Street, 37 Stevens Street stands out like a sore thumb, among other single-family houses. 

Overgrown brush covers up the house and as you approach, electrical wires hang down through the front yard while the roof of the house looks to be caving in. 

There is no sign of what was once a driveway, and tree branches are debris cover the side and backyards.

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This 360 photo shows 37 Stevens Street, as it is overcome with brush and the house is significantly damaged on the outside.

The house has drastically changed since it was occupied back in 2011.

To combat other blighted areas, Hamden Mayor Curt Leng is planning a new initiative, “Hamden fights blight,” to clean up abandoned and unsightly properties in town.

And local officials have placed the “blighted” property at 37 Stevens Street on a short list of homes and buildings needing attention. 

“Blight” describes a wide variety of problems, which can range from physical deterioration of buildings and the environment, to health, social and economic problems in a particular area.

So, what is the Hamden doing to fix it? 

Residents in the neighborhood of 37 Stevens Street have described the property as a danger to neighborhood children and a liability to the town. 

“We try to do our best and we respond to many complaints,” Hamden Town Planner Daniel Kops said. “Nobody wants to live next to (a blighted property) or across the street, or drive by it every day.”

The property was inspected on May 23, 2019, by the Quinnipiack Valley Health District and the Hamden Police Department. As one of the town’s “hot-list” properties to address, Kops said it is being acted on. 

HQPress made many attempts to interview Leng to further explain this initiative, but he did not agree to one. 

Leng, who mentioned this idea in a radio interview with the New Haven Independent on Oct. 3, said that he found that blight was a common theme among resident concerns while campaigning door-to-door for the Democratic primary this fall.

The town’s “hot-list” currently consists of seven properties that need immediate attention. 

The locations given to the planning and zoning department include: 37 Stevens Street, 922 Winchester Avenue, 2038 State Street, 293 Goodrich Street, 891 Dixwell Avenue, 635 Wintergreen Avenue and 560 Newhall Street.

“The (hot-list) is now being acted on,” Town Planner Daniel Kops said. “The town attorney’s office is working on some that we are foreclosing. We’ll have an active committee that is going to be reviewing other cases, but we haven’t gotten anywhere yet.”

While Leng said that the list includes these seven properties, he said there are about 20 to 25 properties in Hamden that he believes will need attention.

The goal of “Hamden fights blight” is to be more proactive, but there are a large number of requests made to the Planning and Zoning Commission regarding blighted areas. 

“For the most part, we respond to complaints,” Kops said. “There are enough of those to keep the assistant zoning enforcement officer, who is responsible for inspecting them, quite busy. Now we’re adding on being proactive and selecting some streets that appear to have problems.”

Once a complaint is made, the town will inspect the houses. The plan with the new committee is to be able to go out and do some of these inspections prior to a complaint being made.

“We have to inspect them from the street,” Kops said. “We can’t go on the property without permission. When the committee gets active and we’ll be discussing which streets to inspect and figure out how to deal with that. We’re in the initial stages.”

Of the seven properties, Leng said there are five residential, one commercial and one town-owned.

The town-owned property is the old Hamden Middle School, located at 560 Newhall St.  

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The old Hamden Middle School, located at 560 Newhall Street, is now boarded up and covered with graffiti, leaving neighbors frustrated with its appearance.

The middle school has been abandoned for several years after it was found to be built on top of a former toxic waste dump.

“The middle school is an interesting case,” Kops said. “The middle school property was approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission and was granted a special permit for renovation of the tall building, renovation into apartments and then the construction of townhouses along the front. 

“The entity handling that is seeking funds from Hartford in order to do that project. I’m not sure what will happen until that happens.”

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This 360 shows one of the few exposed spaces of the old Middle School.

Back in 2010, Director of Economic Development Dale Kroop said that there would be tremendous activity on Newhall Street for the next few years, but the school still remains, with graffiti lining its walls and most of the windows either shattered or boarded up.

“I can’t remember how long its been (since the middle school has been abandoned) but it has been a very long time,” Mike Ortega, a member of the parks department, said. “I heard the talk of the town was turning the property into elderly housing or low-income housing.”

While the town waits for funding, it seems that the Department of Economic and Community Development will not be involved with the new blight initiative. 

After multiple attempts to reach Kroop, he responded via email saying that the plan does not involve him. 

“I don’t have anything to do with this initiative except to say that our Development Corporation works on brownfields on behalf of the town,” Kroop said. 

In 2017, Hamden was granted $600,000 from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), for asbestos cleanup and demolition of the auditorium at the middle school, which began and was completed in 2018.

At the time, Kroop and the Department of Economic Development were in the process of remediating the land for the construction of 87 mixed-income units and a new community center, a project that is still waiting to be started. 

Brownfield land is previously developed land that is currently not in use. The $600,000 awarded in 2017 was to be used to clean up the area and revitalize the neighborhood.

“I would like the town to hire people and come clean (the old middle school) up,” Anne Marie Cruz, a Hamden resident said. “When (graffiti on buildings) happens at Yale, they clean it up the next day, because they don’t want to offend anyone. 

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Inside a room at the old Hamden Middle School, which has been abandoned since 2006.

“That’s the way we should think. There are very nice people from all walks of life living around here. There’s a lot of diversity and that’s what I think makes it nice.”

Blighted properties can bring down the value of the homes surrounding them in a neighborhood. Part of the new initiative is to help residents from not only viewing these properties, but in order to boost the value of theirs as well. 

“Once you have blighted structures and properties in a neighborhood it often has a multiplier effect,” Kops said. “It leaves a disinvestment, it lowers the property values which can lead to people moving out or losing their homes because the mortgage they’re paying is higher than what they will get for it. They’re basically losing money.”

Just a mere two minutes from Newhall Street, another property located at 922 Winchester Avenue, has become an eyesore in the community. 

Damaged beyond repair from a 2015 fire that displaced the family that lived there for more than 40 years, 922 Winchester Avenue is a shell of the property it once was.

The home’s windows are knocked out, with the siding showing serious fire damage, the property is overgrown with weeds and bushes that seemingly haven’t been touched in years. 

The house was built in 1920, according to Hamden records, but now that it is abandoned and broken down, residents in the area want to see something done.

“It looks bad in the area,” said resident Veronica Gram. “If they could, fix it or break it down or sell the lot or something. It looks terrible, it’s not good at all.”

Hamden operates under two ordinances for cleaning up these blighted properties. 

“Under state statute we have an Anti-Blight ordinance and we have a Property Maintenance ordinance,” Kops said. “The Anti-Blight ordinance is the stronger one because if the owner fails to respond, in most cases, we issue fines and they start accumulating.”

As fines continue to accumulate the town will eventually be able to foreclose the property which allows them to clean it up and eventual sell it once it is no longer an eyesore to the community.

“In the case of the Anti-Blight ordinance it allows us to get a judgement lien against the property,” Kops said. “Ultimately, when that builds up the town can and does foreclose on it, or negotiates with the owner.”

For liens on personal property, the creditor, in this case the town, files a judgment with Connecticut’s Office of the Secretary of State. The lien will remain attached to the debtor’s property for five years on personal property. 

The Department of Planning and Zoning states on its website that residents with complaints about blight need to fill out a form in order to trigger an inspection. 

If a violation is found, the staff will work with the property owner to resolve the problem.

With Hamden fights blight, the goal is for the town to find this properties prior to getting a litany of complaints.

“Once you let blight start, it can just increase,” Kops said. “It’s important to fight it as much as you can. It is a never ending battle in communities all over the world.”

Connecticut Plans to Remove the Religious Exemption Law for Vaccinations

Earlier this year, Connecticut released data revealing that over 100 Connecticut schools had vaccination rates below federal guidelines. As a result, Gov. Ned Lamont and other officials are working to repeal the religious exemption law, under which people can choose not to vaccinate due to their religious beliefs.


A bucket of used vaccinations. Photo by Kristen Altmeyer

A bucket of used vaccinations. Photo by Kristen Altmeyer

“Connecticut has pockets of very dangerous numbers of low vaccination rates, which is what caused the problem in New York State,” said Democratic House Rep. Matt Ritter, referring to the outbreak of measles in Brooklyn earlier in the year. 

“We suspect later this month, when the more updated list comes out it will be a lot more schools,” said Ritter.

Ritters suspicion was correct, as the 2018-2019 school-by-school vaccination rate data revealed that 134 schools have vaccination rates for measles, mumps and rubella below federal guidelines. The schools featured in the data had more than 30 kindergarten students.

While Connecticut has a much higher overall vaccination rate than New York – Connecticut is placed #6 and New York placed at #31 for overall vaccination rates in the country – there is still a concern.


Quinnipiac student Leah Sutherland receiving a shot. Photo by Kristen Altmeyer.

Quinnipiac student Leah Sutherland receiving a shot. Photo by Kristen Altmeyer.

All it takes is one unvaccinated person to set the percentage rate below the federal guidelines. 

“You’ll see schools in the low 70’s and it’s interesting because you’re only talking about 30 kids,” said Ritter. Some will argue, well if you just add two kids that are vaccinated, the rate goes up to 95%, and that argument works both ways. What’s scary about it is that if you lose one kid, you’re back below, so it works both ways.”

In 2007, about 460 people had vaccination exemptions in Connecticut. Today, that number is closer to 2,000 people. While 96.5% of Connecticut residents receive vaccinations, it is still considered a health issue.

“The job of a legislature, public health commissioner and her staff is to not to wait until something happens,” said Ritter. “It’s to see a pattern and say ‘If we don’t do something about this pattern, we know something bad is going to happen.’ It’s trying to get ahead of it.”

There is a broad consensus between the governor and the public health commissioner to propel this bill forward.

“Governor Lamont is standing side by side with the families who have made the responsible decision to ensure their children are immunized in order to attend public schools, a figure which DPH reports consists of 95% of children in our education system,” said Rob Blanchard, Gov. Lamont’s communication director. “Decades of science clearly proves that more children who receive their vaccinations, the safer it is for everyone, especially those who may be susceptible to serious diseases.”

The bill does not require children to get vaccinated, but instead would prohibit them from entering Connecticut’s public and private schools. Those with medical exemptions due to immunization complications will not be affected by the new law. But there is a backlash from people who say those exemptions are important for their beliefs and to honor their religion. 

“My great grandparents would be appalled knowing that vaccinations would be mandatory for children in Connecticut,” said senior marketing major Jessica O’Keefe, a member of the Orthodox community. “They would definitely feel like this was an attack on our religion.”

But Ritter says that that legislators are not challenging anyone’s beliefs.

“The problem is, we have to look at the greater good for the state of Connecticut and we have to look at the population that’s medically fragile, the other 96 percent of the state and we have to make a policy decision,” said Ritter.

There is a stereotype that all members affiliated in the Jewish religion do not receive vaccinations. There is a small sector of the branch of Orthodox Jewish affiliates that are the anti-vaccers. In latin, Orthodox means a “strict adherence to the law.”

“I think it’s sinful,” said Rabbi Reena Judd of Quinnipiac University. “I think it’s our human responsibility to embrace technology and medical advancements that not just lengthen the days of our life, but enhance the quality of those days.”

The sector of Orthodox Jewish members that refuse to get vaccines does so because they are in denial of modernity. 

“My great grandparents generation believed everything was to be natural and to avoid medicines,” O’Keefe said. “They believed their bodies would heal through the power and believe through investment in our religion.”

Although the United States has combated the first measles outbreak in 1912 and was declared as a “measles free” country, the measles have now taken residency in 31 states since 2019.


Graphic by Kristen Altmeyer

Graphic by Kristen Altmeyer

“I think the main reason we have another measles outbreak, is that people don’t understand what measles does to the human body,” said Dr. Brett Lindenbach, an associate professor of microbial biology at Yale. “They don’t know much about the virus. People have forgotten what it’s like to have measles or to have their children infected by it.” 

According to the CDC, measles is known as one of the most contagious diseases in the world. It is an airborne virus that can infect anyone that has been in the same vicinity as someone who is infected. Measles can lead to blindness, brain swelling, intellectual disabilities and even death. In 1657, measles appeared for the first time in Boston. Due to a high number of vaccination rates, America was able to declare that they were a measles-free nation in 2000. Today, America faces a record number of measles outbreaks and has lost its measles free status. The measles are in New Haven County’s backyard, with three reported cases in New Haven in 2019.

As Connecticut is working to combat its measles outbreak, so is the rest of the world.

“In seven countries, there has been a return of the measles and indigenous transmission of measles,” said Dr. Saad Omer, a vaccinologist and infectious disease epidemiologist at Yale University. “In this country, we eliminated indigenous transmission of measles and now it’s mostly imported from places like Europe and the outbreaks associated with it, but if measles return as an indigenous disease, then we have more cases.”


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If the bill passes, it won’t be in effect until the school year of 2021-2022. 

Though it was cancer that Judd overcame and not the measles, the Quinnipiac rabbi said she believes modern medicine is the answer.

“I embrace concepts of modernity,” Judd said. “I’m an eight year survivor of fourth stage colorectal cancer. Had I not embraced modernity, I’d be dead.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What does it mean to be an influencer in 2019?

By Olivia Schueller

Caitlin Houston is a 34-year-old Connecticut micro-influencer running the lifestyle and family blog Caitlin Houston Blog, posting about things like mom life, gift guides and clothing.

“There’s a lot of people who don’t understand what a blogger is and what a blogger does,” Houston said.

Houston works 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. like many people her age, but she said a lot of people don’t think blogging is a “real job.”

“They don’t understand it,” Houston said. “The second I say I’m a blogger or influencer, somebody thinks I’m just out there talking about something I was paid to talk about.”

Houston explains influencing as, “Giving people knowledge about an item or a brand or topic and hoping that they take your opinion as worth more than just an opinion.”

She uses many social media platforms to promote her blogs and communicate with her audience.

Houston uses Instagram to spread knowledge about a product or brand. She also uses it to share pictures of her family and form relationships with people.

“So when I do talk about something, they take my word honestly and they believe what I’m saying is organic,” Houston said.

Facebook is Houston’s most active platform.

“I have a large audience on Facebook that doesn’t use Instagram,” Houston said.

For every blog post Houston writes, she also creates a graphic with text and posts it to Pinterest with key words.

“I do it with the hopes that they will click that pin which will ultimately take them to my blog and keep them there for a while,” Houston said.

Houston’s goals aren’t just numbers on social media. One goal was to create a presence in her community.

She loves it when people reach out to her, like one woman who wrote, “I love your blog” and “you helped me through this part of motherhood.”

Houston talking on a panel about influencing along with other Connecticut influencers
Houston talking on a panel about influencing along with other Connecticut influencers.

Through blogging, Houston’s connected with people outside her community.

“I have friends probably all over the country,” Houston said. “People that I talk about daily, talk to daily.”

Houston and her friends run lifestyle blogs, but influencers don’t all have to focus on the same subject.

Some influencers focus on very specific niche-interests.

Marissa Mullen is 26-year-old living in Brooklyn, New York. The Connecticut native left her job as a house band coordinator for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to pursue her passion…for cheese.

“I am a “Cheese Plate Influencer” as they say online,” Mullen said.

As a micro influencer, Mullen is a one-person band. She creates content for three separate Instagram accounts.

@ThatCheesePlate shares her full cheese plate creations. @CheeseByNumbers show’s swipe by swipe directions on how to create each cheese plate and @ThatCheeseClass shows boards created at her workshops.

But Mullen doesn’t just run an Instagram accounts, she runs a business.

“Some days I’m busy working with clients to create content, which means crafting and photographing four cheese plates in a day,” Mullen said.

As the only employee to her company, she spends days answering emails, handling invoices and booking events. Her most recent project is her upcoming cookbook, “That Cheese Plate Will Change Your Life.”

But it’s not just family blogs or things like cheese.

Video gamers can also have a career in influencing. They share their content when they post videos to either their social media or YouTube channel. Videos game influencers are unique because they take you through an experience.

“Facebook, Twitter, they don’t allow for the sharing of the experience itself,” David A. Tomczyk, professor of Professor of Entrepreneurship & Strategy at Quinnipiac University, said.

The video itself is a solo experience and the social interaction happens before and after.

Houston and Mullen are a part of a large group of micro and macro-influencers, world-wide.

“Influencers are considered to be thought leaders,” Professor Mary Dunn of Quinnipiac University’s school of communications, said.

Dunn teaches a class called “Strategies of Social Media,” and her research includes influencers. Dunn said that people don’t realize how much production goes into being an influencer.

“It’s beyond a job, it’s a whole industry,” Dunn said.

This “industry” is made up of macro and micro-influencers. Macro influencers often have over a million followers. Micro influencers have a couple thousand followers.

John Powers, who teaches a course called “Social Media in the Digital Age” at Quinnipiac University said, “It’s a natural way to do what you love to do.”

Before social media influencers starting popping up, brands used well-known celebrities to endorse their products or brands. Today, it is more common for a macro influencer to partner with brands.

“LeBron James wore them, so I have to get them, has turned,” Powers said.

MuseFind is a influencer marketing platform. Its data shows that 92 percent of consumers trust an influencer more than an advertisement or traditional celebrity endorsement.

Powers said, he sees that average people with a large following were more trusted by the public then celebrities.

In the late 2000s, American model and reality television star Kendall Jenner endorsed Proactive, a skin care brand. In 2017, she endorsed Pepsi. This shows how she went from a small product to a worldwide brand.

From the outside looking in, this can still look like a glamorous career, but it’s much more complex on the production side than anyone realizes.

Micro-influencers may work independently, while macro-influencers work with their team to produce content.

“Many of what we call macro-influencers, who have over a million followers, but aren’t considered cultural celebrities, those accounts that are posting so regularly often have teams behind them,” Dunn said.

These teams are forming a number of careers for people.

“There are actually supportive creative careers within the industry of influencing,” Dunn said.

Amanda Perelli is an editorial fellow at Business Insider covering YouTubers and influencers. She said both smaller and larger businesses are only growing in popularity.

“I think people think right now that the industry is very saturated, but I would say it’s only going to get bigger,” Perelli says.

In 2019, spending on influencer marketing will…

Parelli said a lot of brands still don’t practice influencer marketing. She thinks that once more brands use this type of marketing they’ll see the success of influencer marketing versus celebrity endorsements or television advertisements.

Powers said the success of “great content” comes from being active on multiple platforms.

The research firm, eMarketer, found that on average, people will spend 3 hours and 43 minutes each day on their smartphones, feature phones and tablets this year. That’s 8 more minutes than they’ll spend watching TV.

“Huge percentages of people are spending vast majority of their time on those social networks, that is where information is being shared,” Powers said. “It’s where messages are shared, it’s where brands and people are expressing themselves.”

Social media also gives influencers the ability to network with others in their niche.

“Instagrammers also do a lot of cross promotion with others of similar interest,” Dunn said.

Cross promotion allows influencers to work with other influencers. This can lead to an increase in followers and the opportunity to partner with more brands.

For example, MAC cosmetics isn’t going to come out with a line of hardware tools. So if you’re a beauty blogger endorsing brands, you’re not going to endorse your “favorite” hardware tools.

“If it feels random, the audience is going to think you’re just in it for the money,” said Dunn.

The audience just wants partnerships to make sense.

“Audiences don’t care that they’re doing partnerships,” Dunn said. We’re seeing that consumers are actually excited for these micro influencers, that they’re getting to make some money.”

However, the audience wants to see disclosures when working with a brand.

“You would think it would put off a bunch of people, but instead if you’re upfront about it then the consumers are like OK, I still value your opinion,” said Dunn.

The brand, influencer and audience ideas have to mesh, but the influencers has to practice transparency in order to be successful.

“That full disclosure is a better business practice for the audience who’s the vulnerable population, the influencer who has to manage this relationship and the brand who’s using all this tactically to support the brand,” Dunn said.

A big change has come to some Instagram accounts.

The social network is testing a feature that will no longer show someone’s “likes.” Account holders can see their likes, but their followers won’t know the amount of likes on a picture or video.

In an article on Instagram hiding ‘likes’, Perelli writes, “By promoting products to followers, Instagram has become a huge source of revenue for many social-media influencers and a major part of their online businesses.”

Instagram likes are often used as measurement for brands.

Adam Wescott, a partner at Drm Select Management Group, told Business Insider that, “”For creators, it’s a big change because likes are the number one tool for tracking post engagement. They know within minutes how their content will do based on number of likes.”

Talking to Lifestyle blogger, Caitlin Houston
Talking to Lifestyle blogger, Caitlin Houston

Houston, the creator of Caitlin Houston Blog, isn’t worried about Instagram’s trial feature.

“Truthfully I feel a sense of relief that they are going to be doing this because I put too much pressure on myself when a picture doesn’t get as many likes as I think it should,” she said.

Houston thinks brands will be able to look at quality and “impressions” instead of quantity. The lifestyle blogger focuses more on her comments than her likes.

“Comments are huge to me and I think more important than likes because people are stopping to engage with the photo,” she said.

Influencers will still be able to make an income from their social media accounts.

“For a lot of people it’s a career because they’re able to make money in so many different ways,” Perelli said.

Wescott told Business Insider that he believes brands will find alternative ways to measure engagement through looking at things like comments, shares, and Instagram stories.

An increase in influencer marketing will also create job growth.

“When mainstream brands and bigger brands start putting money into that, I think it could really become a career for even more people than it already is,” Perelli said.

The Time to Quit Vaping Is Now

By Dante Turo

Quinnipiac senior Dylan Lewis started to vape during his senior year of high school because he wanted to join in on what his friends were doing. Without knowing the consequences, he continued to vape because he enjoyed the act of smoking itself.

After sharing vaping devices with his friends for some time, Lewis would eventually go on to buy his own vape. He purchased a Juul, which is one of the most popular e-cigarettes on the market. It’s known for its various flavors and high nicotine percentages. 

Lewis became addicted to the nicotine.

“When I first started, I did it just because I weirdly liked the act of smoking in general and would join in with my friends when they were smoking,” Lewis said. “The past year or so, however, is essentially just because I’ve become addicted to nicotine.” 

Nicotine is a highly addictive chemical that can increase a person’s heart rate and blood pressure. It can also increase the flow of blood to the heart and can lead to the hardening of the arterial walls. In some e-cigarettes, you can buy pods that have a higher nicotine percentage than most e-cigarettes.


Photo by Vaping360 ( https://vaping360.com/best-vape-starter-kits/pod-mini-vapes/ )

Photo by Vaping360 (https://vaping360.com/best-vape-starter-kits/pod-mini-vapes/)

Lewis didn’t know of the long-term effects of smoking e-cigarettes when he started to vape, but now there are reports of people suffering from mysterious lung illnesses that have been linked to vaping. 

There have been over 1,400 lung illnesses that have been reported from 49 states and one U.S. territory. So far, there have been 33 confirmed deaths from this illness.  

The most concerning part about these reports are how it’s affecting the younger generation, including college students. There are students at Quinnipiac who admit to vaping even with all the news coming out about these illnesses and deaths. Over 65 students were surveyed, and thirty say that they still continue to vape.

Some college students started to vape because of its easy accessibility and seeing others doing it in a social setting. Emily Taft, a health science major at Quinnipiac, has admitted to vaping in the past before she knew the long-term effects it can have on your health.

“I started doing so in the first place due to vaping becoming very popular in a social setting, so I believe that the social influence surrounding vaping is why I had decided to try it,” she said. “I do think that vaping is addicting. The behavior or constantly holding a vape in your hand, or having it in your mouth, makes the behavior easy access and creates addictive tendencies.”

Out of the 66 students that were asked if they believe vaping is addicting, a staggering 61 students said that vaping is addicting.


Graph by Dante Turo

Graph by Dante Turo

A new survey for Health Capsule showed an alarming increase in adolescents who have tried vaping in 2018. More than 44,000 students took part in the survey, which found that about 37 percent of 12th graders reported vaping in 2018, which is a 9 percent increase from 2017. They saw an increase in substances that were being vaped, which included nicotine, marijuana, and flavored liquids. 

Monitoring the Future held a nationwide survey on drug use for college students. The results found that 11 percent of college students had vaped marijuana within a month of taking the survey. They also found that more than 15 percent of college students vaped nicotine within a month of taking the survey.  

With all the deaths and illnesses that have been reported thus far, why do people, and students in general, continue to vape? The numbers keep rising, with a new death being reported not too long after the one before. 

Christy Chase, director of Student Health Services at Quinnipiac, says the epidemic is awful, and students need to be more aware of what they’re putting in their lungs.  

“I think young people have been misled and thought that it was a safe thing,” Chase said. “I think we’re starting to see that that was not true, and I think there’s a lot more that’s going to be uncovered.”  

As a nurse practitioner, Chase would ask students if they smoked or were active smokers. They would say no, but when asking if they vape, she gets a different response because students don’t link the two together. She’s worried about the long-term effects this will have on students.  

“Those (15 deaths) are even immediate,” she said. “I’m thinking long-term.”  

Kevin Parker, prevention and wellness educator at Quinnipiac, agrees this is a problem in the long run. 

“I think the sneaky specter of all of this is the long thing down the road when students who are 18 now are 35, what’re we going to see?” Parker said. “We don’t know, and I don’t think anybody knows.”  

The chemicals in these vapes, more specifically the Juul, is what’s most concerning to Chase. 

“Who knows what these chemicals are going to do. Are they just going to change the surface in the lung? Are they going to change the exchange of gasses?” she said. “Nicotine is so bad for your body. That alone, it narrows the cardiovascular pathways, so it affects the heart, the lung, and the brain.”  

Besides nicotine, e-cigarettes contain harmful ingredients that can be harmful to a person’s lungs. These ingredients include ultrafine particles, diacetyl, volatile organic compounds and heavy metals. The New York State Department of Health found high levels of vitamin E acetate in almost all of the vaping products that contained cannabis. A pesticide that can transform into hydrogen cyanide when burned was linked to bootleg marijuana vapes, as well. 

These ingredients and chemicals may play a role in why people are coming down with these vaping-related illnesses.


Photo by Flickr

Photo by Flickr

Reese Mentiply, a junior at Quinnipiac, still vapes from time to time, but not as often as he used to. He says he stopped vaping as often because of how it made him feel. 

“Mostly I stopped because it made me feel awful,” he said. 

Even though vaping made Mentiply feel “awful,” he believes that vaping is better than smoking cigarettes. He started vaping in the first place to cut back on smoking other products. 

“I started vaping at first to cut down on smoking,” he said. “I vaped for nicotine.” 

Parker added how bad nicotine is for your body. People try to justify nicotine and what it does and play it off as something that isn’t as bad as it truly is.  

“One of the interesting things I’ve seen people make a counter-argument for is ‘nicotine isn’t actually all that bad.’ Actually, there’s significant research as well on what nicotine alone does in your body,” he said. “I think people just don’t see that research pushed out all that often because the public don’t want to think of it.”  

The state of Connecticut is taking note of the younger generation getting their hands on these products. The state raised the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21, which became effective on October 1. The state is also enforcing restrictions on where people can smoke or vape. The use of a vaping device will be prohibited in any state or school buildings, food and liquor stores, restaurants, college dorms and race tracks. 

Senator Richard Blumenthal is calling for the FDA to stop the sale of vapes that are disguised as smartwatches, sweatshirts, backpacks and phone cases.

Sean Patten, a senior at Quinnipiac, says he tends to vape, especially when there’s alcohol in his system, and finds the reports “scary.”  

“I have no reason why. When I am drinking alcohol, my body seems to always want it. That is the only time,” Patten said. “The reports scare me, but I feel as if I am far too gone.”  

Patten said he began vaping in the first place because of the various flavors these vapes have to offer. Because of how addictive it is, he has a hard time turning down the need to vape when he goes out.  

“I started vaping because it tasted good and made me feel good. There are so many flavors, and the taste is all different,” he said. “I have cut down a lot from my previous years, but it is addicting. There are so many pressures. They are all around on a night out, so it’s hard not to.”  

Both Chase and Parker believe flavorings and peer pressure plays a huge part in why adolescents began to vape. 

Parker worked at a high school before working at colleges and said that social media and influence from older siblings played a role in why students started to get hooked on these devices.  

“It was all around the social media piece. It was ‘well I saw people doing this that I know from home, or that I know who aren’t even in my school.’ So, it trickled in through that way,” he said. 

“When they did research around that, 80 percent of students who were in high school or younger were getting it from an older source.”  

Joseph Guido, a senior business major at Quinnipiac, admitted to vaping in the past because of peer pressure and wanting to be cool. He can count on both of his hands how many times he’s vaped in his life, so the reports don’t really scare him. 

“Since I have hardly vaped in my life, these reports don’t scare me, but they make me worry about my friends,” Guido said. “I still have friends that vape heavily. I worry about them more than myself.” 

The idea of vaping was to give people an alternative to smoking cigarettes. Out of 65 students questioned in an in-house survey, 40 believe vaping is better than smoking cigarettes. 

Even if vaping may be deemed safer in their eyes, it can lead to bad habits, like smoking cigarettes in the future. At a recent conference, Parker learned that students who started smoking e-cigarettes were more likely to begin smoking combustible cigarettes later on.


Graph by Dante Turo

Graph by Dante Turo

“We would not be recommending e-cigarettes as a smoking sensation tool based on that research,” he said. “If it’s your primary thing, it’s something you start with; it’s definitely likely that you’re going to be going to combustible cigarettes.”  

Quinnipiac has been finding ways to urge students to quit vaping. 

The Health and Wellness department held an event where students could throw away their vaping devices in return for school gear. Parker said they collected around 40 different vaping devices.  

“For us, that event’s intent was to hit the population who are ready to quit. We know that people hear the media and hear the messages around ‘Juul is bad,’ and some of them don’t believe it, and some of them do,” he said. 

“That event’s intent was not to convince people one way or the other around what was going on of risks but was to be an option for people who were ready to quit.”  

The department is looking to offer more events like this in the future, especially with more news and reports coming out as time goes on. Parker said he had around 10 students who told him that they vaped within the past hour and many more who said they’ve tried to quit before but couldn’t. He’s hoping future events will allow more students to hand in their devices and quit vaping. 

Some students have tried to quit vaping but are having a hard time doing so.

More than 65 college students were asked multiple questions about their vaping habits. One question that was asked was if they had tried to quit vaping, if they even do vape. Thirty-five students say they have successfully or at least tried to stop, but some have not been able to fully quit. One student said he has tried to quit six to seven times but has been unsuccessful in doing so. 

Smoking is one of the hardest addictions to kick, and college students are now starting to learn that.


Graph by Dante Turo

Graph by Dante Turo

Chase and Parker strongly urged students to stop vaping now. When asked if they could give a message to students who do vape, their message is simple: stop now. 

“Don’t be tricked by the fancy devices,” Parker said. “Don’t get tricked, but if you’re addicted, get help for it.”

(Juul Photo by Vaping360 (https://vaping360.com/best-vape-starter-kits/pod-mini-vapes/)

Quinnipiac’s melting pot

How the Quinnipiac men’s soccer team recruits from all over the world


The Quinnipiac men’s soccer team celebrates a goal from last season. The Bobcats made it all the way to the MAAC finals in 2018, before losing 1-0 to Rider.

The Quinnipiac men’s soccer team celebrates a goal from last season. The Bobcats made it all the way to the MAAC finals in 2018, before losing 1-0 to Rider.

The United States was built by people who came from other countries for new opportunities. 

The same can be said for some of the Quinnipiac men’s soccer team. 

Take senior defender Conor McCoy for example. He hails from Forkhill, Ireland, and the opportunity to go to school and play soccer at the same time was too good to pass up.

“The whole dream of football and study, I think that was the real selling point,” McCoy said. “Both coaches sold it really well, and this school is really great. I really wanted to get a degree out of it as well. I didn’t want to just finish playing football and whatever age and not have any future opportunities.”

McCoy is one of 13 international players on the Quinnipiac men’s soccer team who has made his way to Hamden. 

The team has the most international representation of any sports team at Quinnipiac. There are 27 players on the roster, with 13 from outside the United States, representing nine different countries. 

Men’s soccer also has the highest percentage of international players at just under 50%. The next highest is the women’s soccer team having 36% of the team from outside the U.S. 

How they recruit these players is an overt strategy with Quinnipiac head coach Eric Da Costa at the helm. 

“It’s a really complicated process,” Da Costa said. “The first thing that we’re looking for is that first impression. What we get on video from a player, usually it’s some type of highlight reel. You’re really just focused on the technical ability of the player. Then we start to do some digging. We need full matches and we have a couple different scouting software that we use that have a pretty in-depth database globally.” 

After the first step is taken, Da Costa said it’s about finding out who the player is as a person. It becomes less about the soccer player and more about the international student trying to come to a new country. When he gets the chance, Da Costa will travel to different countries to meet with his prospective recruits personally. 

According to Da Costa, that’s not always the case. Due to budgetary restrictions, there is only so much international travel that Da Costa and his staff can do. So they rely on technology to keep their relationships with these players growing.

“We do a lot of Skype; we do a lot of Whatsapp and Facetime,” Da Costa said. “Just trying to get that face time with these guys and figuring out who they are, what they’re about, what makes them tick and does that fit into what we do here. It’s really important that we bring the right character into this program.”

Da Costa is also looking for players that want to not only be a part of a collegiate soccer program, but want to be a part of his program.

“I want someone who wants to be at Quinnipiac, not because it’s an opportunity to play soccer or there’s a potential scholarship, or it’s an opportunity to come to the United States,” Da Costa said. “That means nothing to me. I want someone who wants to be at Quinnipiac University for all the right reasons. They want to play for me, they want to be a part of this program. They want to help continue to grow and help us continue to win.”

That same “want” that Da Costa looks for in his players, is also reciprocated the other way. Junior midfielder Simon Hillinger, a native of Ditzingen, Germany, felt that as much as he wanted to come to the United States, Quinnipiac wanted him as well.



447A3471.jpg

“I saw that coach had big dreams for the team and big goals, so I was really just like ‘Why not? I want to be a part of this family and this team.’”

-Chrysostomos Iakovidis

“I really felt like the coaches wanted me here,” Hillinger said. “Compared to other coaches I talked to, I always felt like the second choice. But with [Quinnipiac assistant coach Graciano] Brito and Da Costa I felt right away that they really wanted me and really wanted me in their program.”

Hillinger isn’t the only one that feels that way. Senior goaltender Chrysostomos Iakovidis comes from Thessaloniki, Greece, and he also credits Da Costa in why he eventually chose coming to the U.S. to play soccer.

“Coach was really close to me from the first time (we met),” Iakovidis said. “He seemed like he really wanted me to get with the team and be a part of it. …I saw that coach had big dreams for the team and big goals, so I was really just like ‘Why not? I want to be a part of this family and this team.’”

Why they cross the Atlantic

For the players, there is a multitude of other reasons they come to the United States. And that changes from person to person. 

In the case of senior defender Jeppe Haehre, it was his older brother, Daniel Haehre, who influenced his decision. Daniel made the choice to come to the U.S. and play soccer in 2011. Coming from Baerums Verk, Norway, the elder Haehre attended Virginia Commonwealth University before transferring to Hawaii Pacific University for his final three years. 

“I kind of knew about the whole college experience from [my brother] so I kind of looked into it early,” Haehre said. “Then I reached out to Da Costa and Brito, and they told me a bunch of stuff about Quinnipiac. The people, the diversity that was here, that really pulled me into wanting to come here.” 

Haehre first attended a showcase in Sweden, joining other prospective Europeans who wanted to come to the United States for soccer. From there, Da Costa and his staff watched Haehre’s video highlights from the showcase, reaching out to him afterward. It wasn’t long after that Haehre decided Hamden would be his home for the next four years. 

“I was really ready for it because my brother did it,” Haehre said. “He always came home and told a bunch of stories about the cool experiences, so I was very open to a new culture and embracing that.”


Quinnipiac sophomore defender Jordon Bennett kicks the ball up the field. Bennett comes from Central Coast, Australia. He is the only non-European international player on the team.

Quinnipiac sophomore defender Jordon Bennett kicks the ball up the field. Bennett comes from Central Coast, Australia. He is the only non-European international player on the team.

For others, such as freshman defender Henry Weigand, coming to the United States provided an opportunity for additional development. Weigand was playing in the U19 Bundesliga North/North-East league, which is considered to be the highest division in German youth soccer. However, when scouts approached him, they felt he wasn’t quite ready for the next level in Germany. 

“A scouting agency came to me and said that they thought I had the potential to play at the high, college level,” Weigand said. “But they didn’t think I could go to next division in Germany. I had to develop a little bit more, and I know that I will be [eventually be] a professional in Germany. So I took the other option [for college].”

Unlike in the United States, it’s not common for people to go to college. Most will go straight into the workforce and never even give a thought about higher education. 

“In this country, you raise your kids and they’re going to college,” Da Costa said. “A lot of other countries aren’t like that … at the end of the day, an international kid and their family want to go to a place where they’re cared about. They want to go to a place where they know they can study and play at a high level, which they can’t do in most of their own countries.” 

Complications in the process

With that said, it’s not always smooth sailing for these players to come play. They might have the destination, but they now have to get to the U.S., which includes applying for and receiving a visa. Raya Al Wasti, the secretary for Multicultural and Global Initiatives at Quinnipiac, explained how the process can differ depending on where the player is form. 

“We have countries that are really easy to get their visas here, but sometimes it’s harder because of political issues in the country,” Al Wasti said. 

Weigand was one of the players that experienced some difficulties in getting his visa. After going through all the paperwork, the visa eventually did arrive, but later than expected. As a result, it threw off Weigand’s entire move to the U.S.

“I had a little issue with my visa, so it came three days late,” Weigand said. “I had to cancel my first flight and at that point I really wanted to go [to the U.S.] because when you are focusing on one point to leave and then you have to move it to a second point, it was like I was wasting time in Germany.”

From within U.S. borders

As for the 14 Americans on the team, eight of them are coming from the Nutmeg state. Some are from the local area of Hamden, such as sophomore midfielder Ivan Ramos, and North Haven, such as sophomore midfielder Alex Holle.

“We have a really good pool of talent in Connecticut,” Da Costa said. “Myself and my staff being involved in the local club [soccer] scene, we’re able to identify them early. If the kid’s not leaving the state, then why is he not coming to Quinnipiac? We think that if you’re not going to Yale, then Quinnipiac should be high up on your radar because we feel like we can offer everything else any other Division I institute in Connecticut can offer.” 

If you’ve followed the team recently, the name Eamon Whelan is constantly being brought up. The reigning MAAC Offensive Player of the Year and the Preseason MAAC Player of the Year isn’t from across the ocean. In fact, he’s just about an hour away, coming from New Fairfield, Connecticut. But having these players come from all over provides Whelan with something that he wouldn’t have been able to get at home.

“I grew up in a very suburban area where there’s not that much diversity,” Whelan said. “So being able to come [to Hamden] and play and be around kids from all around the globe, it’s been a big eye opener. I think on the field I’ve grown, but socially as well.”

Looking at other student athletes near the area, Glastonbury, Wallingford and Farmington are a few more of the areas that the players come from. Having this close distance to the campus allows for the international players to have a warm welcome when being a Bobcat. 

For example, Holle and his family treats some of the international players to Thanksgiving, a tradition most have never heard of, but get that exposure to when in the U.S. 


Quinnipiac goaltender Jared Mazzola reaches up to tip a shot away. The Bobcats currently own a 4-4-3 overall record, while they are 2-2-1 in the MAAC.

Quinnipiac goaltender Jared Mazzola reaches up to tip a shot away. The Bobcats currently own a 4-4-3 overall record, while they are 2-2-1 in the MAAC.

“The Connecticut guys are massive for us just because those families are here,” Da Costa said. “Again, we recruit good people, so they come from good families. These families open up their doors and their hearts for these guys and they become almost surrogate parents which is really cool to see.” 

Regardless of whether a player is from Spain or Norway, Connecticut or New York, at the end of the day, they all are here for a reason – to be a Quinnipiac Bobcat on the men’s soccer team.  

“When you come here, it’s not about you,” Da Costa said. “It’s about us, it’s about the program, so we spend a lot of time figuring out ‘Do they have that type of mentality?’”

He continues, “We’ve spent a long time building a culture that we’re all really proud of. I always say culture is people, so the people in our program make our culture. We obviously know what we want to be but these guys have to carry that out. So we try and make that we get the right person to come in and fit in what we do.”