Alabama football. Duke basketball. Quinnipiac hockey. These are just a few big-time programs in the country that take a lot of money to run. College athletics is bigger than ever these days thanks to things like television, social media and the advertising that you see almost everywhere you look. But where does this money come from to run such an operation? The answer may lie in the university’s tuition bill that the students pay.
What people call in college athletics call this is student fees and they vary from institution to institution. It also varies on many different things like the size of the school, the number of teams playing for the school and the level the teams compete at in the NCAA.
For instance, James Madison has a football team at its school and the team has seen great success recently. JMU is in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of Division I college football, unlike the power five conferences that are in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
Factors like these lead to varying levels of student fees, but not for James Madison who has the highest student fees in the country. About 77% of the total JMU athletic budget in 2017 came from student fees according to the College Athletics Financial Information (CAFI) Database.
Other schools might not have to take as many student fees as other schools due to other sources of revenue. For the Big Ten, the conference has its own television network that puts money in the pockets of its member universities.
The Big Ten was the first power five conferences to start its own television network and other conferences followed suit and started their own. These conference networks now account for millions of dollars that are made each year in college athletics.
It is also interesting to point out that only four out of the 12 total Big Ten teams use student fees as revenue. The schools are Rutgers, Illinois, Iowa, and Maryland. This could be because the revenue from media rights and conference distributions for the entire conference is north of half a billion dollars.
But not every school has football. College athletics departments fall into one of three categories: FBS and FCS if the school has a football team and Division I – no football (NFS). And the data shows that student fees at these schools are higher than fees at schools that have football.
Football is the most popular sport in the country and it attracts that most eyes so, in theory, it stands to make the most money. This rings true for the Big Ten and the money those schools get with their media rights. So, the schools without football struggle to see money like that.
Also, most schools without football are smaller schools that have smaller budgets than what you might find in the Big Ten.
When it comes to college sports and where the money comes from to operate the athletic departments, you might not need to look any further than the bill the students have to pay to attend the school because they might be also helping foot the bill for their school’s athletic teams.
The life of a student-athlete includes early practice, sore legs and long trips to games. Academics do not seem like a priority to the naked eye but to athletes like Taylor Herd, a senior guard for Quinnipiac’s women’s basketball team and Jack Zimmerman, a junior guard at Connecticut College, academics are very important.
“We drive up to the arena, get our ankles taped by 9:30 a.m. and are on the court for stretch by 10 a.m. Practice starts at 10:15 a.m. and runs until 12:30 p.m. Herd said. “We lift with our strength and conditioning coach, Coach B, on most Thursdays and then I have 10 minutes of media.”
(Graphic by Sean Patten)
“Wake up at 8 a.m. every day, class till 9:15 p.m., then depending on the day, we either do weight training and conditioning or have a live practice, Zimmerman said. “After practice, I head right back to class for five hours straight, when you are an athlete you learn to eat while you can.”
Every day is different for each athlete. It depends on how their schedule goes, what their major is and the difficulty of the classes they take. Herd, a journalism major, has to work in classes like her capstone class, which requires her to be in class from 2 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. every Thursday. There is little to no free time for athletes. They must take advantage of the time they have off to relax and to be a regular college student.
Zimmerman said that’s easier said than done.
“When I have time to myself I start to panic, worrying that I forgot to do something because I am not used to having so much free time. I guess it helps you be more efficient,” Zimmerman said.
(Picture by www.theday.com) Right after class, Zimmerman and Herd hit the gym and workout. The defending MAAC champions take no days off. Many students do not understand the pressure athletes are under, having to be at every practice, at every game and still be able to perform in the classroom. For the men’s and women’s teams it depends on the coach. A consistent work ethic and playing a sport takes a toll on one’s body, particularly for Zimmerman.
“Usually when I get home my body is lifeless, but as an athlete one most power through. Getting cramps while studying is normal for me,” Zimmerman said. “Our coach runs us hard but it is to prepare us for the season and the competition we will face.”
(Picture by Sean Patten)
Despite all of the work these athletes put in, they still feel as if they get no respect in the classroom.
“Some professors have this stigma against athletes that we don’t focus as well in the classroom, we want to get out of doing work, or are entitled to good grades,” Herd said. “In reality, we’re trying our best! We have a lot of responsibilities as athletes, on and off the court, and some athletes struggle to balance it all. There’s also the mental challenges that athletes face that carry into the classroom.”
But associate professor at Quinnipiac University Molly Yanity disagrees.
“I have had many athletes in classes and, in almost every circumstance, enjoyed them more than non-athlete students,” Yanity said. “Students who play at the Division I level typically have good time management skills and are committed to every aspect of being an athlete, which includes doing well in school. Generally, they come to class more regularly, they get assignments in on time and are more committed.”
Associate professor at Quinnipiac Richard Hanley said he hasn’t heard student-athletes complain in his classes.
“That said, I have had no issues with student-athletes in my classes. I haven’t heard of faculty unfairly singling out student-athletes on academic performance issues,” Hanley said. “I don’t see how any faculty member looks down on any student-athletes or otherwise. As the NCAA faculty representative, I would hear about that and I simply don’t get any complaints.”
According to athletenetwork.com, most college athletes face the same stereotype about getting a helping hand. So, if someone assisted a student-athlete in completing an assignment or if the athlete was caught cheating, there would be academic consequences, potentially a suspension from the team.
Thomas Colicchio is one of the managers on the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team who travels and spends a lot of time with the team. That said, he knows the squad very well.
“They work hard on and off the court no doubt about it. When they are not on the court traveling or playing in a game, they are either in the library like a normal student or in class trying to better themselves as human beings,” Colicchio said. “Most of them realize that a very small percentage of college athletes go pro, but they all believe they have the skills to go pro in something else.”
Being a student comes before being an athlete for a reason, and athletes realize its significance. According to NCAA.com, less than 2% of college athletes end up going pro in their given sport. It does not matter how much they love the sport because they realize they might not be good enough to play sports for a living.
It seems as if Herd has become accustomed to the life of a student-athlete.
Herd said: “My stress from academics throughout a semester depends on what classes I’m taking and how many. Strategically, I have been taking 12 credits per semester to lighten my load during the season, then I take 3-6 credits in the summer when I’m on campus for workouts.”
Classmates appear to be less forgiving than professors.
“However, this semester, I am in 16 credits and have my senior classes to complete. So completing my capstone project was challenging for me considering it was so work-intensive. It’s all about studying on the bus instead of napping or watching Netflix, getting up an hour early before an 8 a.m. class to finish an assignment. You learn to take advantage of every break you have between classes and practice.”
HQ press surveyed 28 Quinnipiac students asking if they believe that student-athletes are given unfair advantages in the classroom. Almost 80% of the students answered yes. Quinnipiac students indicatedthat student-athletes are given unfair resources in the classroom.
Zimmerman seemed bothered that students believe athletes are treated better in the classroom and on campus.
“I’m hurt that students believe we are treated better. That’s just the way college athletics goes,” Zimmerman said. “I love playing basketball and do not care what my peers think. I do my own work and have earned not been given anything in college.”
Even with the scrutiny from her fellow classmates, Herd wouldn’t change being a student-athlete.
“I do not regret being a student-athlete,” Herd said, “I love competing, I love being fit, and I love being a part of a team.”
“The places I’ve visited with my team and the things we’ve accomplished as a program are irreplaceable – I’m a part of history,” Herd said. “The lessons basketball has taught me have bettered my life and I see the carry-over into the work field. I’ve mastered time management as a skill, and basketball has made me a confident individual. That confidence carries into my everyday life.”
Alabama’s all-American quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is one of the biggest names in college sports not only because of the reputable football program he plays for, but also because of his extraordinary talent on the field. College athletes, such as Tagovailoa, have collectively put on a show for spectators nationwide in their respective sports. According to CBS Sports’ Chip Patterson, the University of Alabama’s football department alone accounted for $108.2 million in revenue and $45.9 million in profit.
Suppose Tagovailoa has an incredible season and contributes to winning a national championship title for the school. As a result, he wants to make money off selling his jersey since he’s a champion that served one of the most important positions on a football team for a successful school. At the same time, many advertisers, such as Gatorade, want to use Tagovailoa’s image and likeness in its next commercial about a new sports drink product. All of these offers scream dollar signs in the back of Tagovailoa’s head.
Despite that, Tagovailoa couldn’t take advantage of any of these money-making opportunities without violating any National Collegiate Athletic Association policy for student-athletes. No matter the team, division, program, sport or accomplishments attached to their name, no college athlete was permitted to make any sort of profit through participating in college sports. But, by the same token, several entities earn millions of dollars off this industry, including the universities, coaches and the NCAA. The student-athletes themselves have never received any portion of that revenue, and they still don’t. However, all college athletes, especially ones like Tagovailoa, have been provided a potential game-changer by the NCAA.
The NCAA’s Board of Governors voted unanimously to permit college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness on Oct. 29. This announcement arrives less than one month after the state of California passed SB 206, signed into law by governor Gavin Newsom, which contained similar terms and conditions for their college athletes.
According to NCAA.org, the NCAA’s Board of Governors is charged with ensuring that each division operates consistently with the basic purposes, fundamental policies and general principles of the Association.
According to the NCAA’s press release, Ohio State University President and Chair of Board Michael Drake said the NCAA instructed all three divisions to begin making revisions with this new change into account. In addition, the NCAA expects these divisions to have their new rules come into effect immediately, but no later than January 2021.
“We must embrace change to provide the best possible experience for college athletes,” Drake said in the release.
Comprehensive recommendations for this policy change influenced the NCAA Board of Governors Federal and State Legislation Working Group. This group is comprised of presidents, commissioners, athletics directors, administrators and student-athletes.
The NCAA, however, is mandating that this policy change must be enforced in a “manner consistent with the collegiate model.” The governing body also reminds the college sports world of some principles and guidelines that student-athletes still must adhere to. These include: “student-athletes are not considered university employees, they cannot receive compensation for participating in athletics and that there’s a clear distinction between collegiate and professional opportunities.”
NCAA President Mark Emmert justifies this decision while emphasizing the fact that its fundamental belief in amateurism will still be implemented in college sports.
“As a national governing body, the NCAA is uniquely positioned to modify its rules to ensure fairness and a level playing field for student-athletes,” Emmert said in the NCAA’s press release. “The board’s action today creates a path to enhance opportunities for student-athletes while ensuring they compete against students and not professionals.”
With this in mind, if this policy was in effect during that hypothetical Alabama championship run, Tagovailoa would likely be able to pocket money from selling his jersey to consumers and engaging in commercial offers from advertisers wanting to use his name, image and likeness.
This issue of college athletes profiting from their name, image and likeness first came to light in the U.S. justice system during the antitrust class action lawsuit called O’Bannon v. NCAA. Former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon filed this lawsuit on behalf of all Division I men’s basketball and football programs against the NCAA, challenging the use of images of its former student-athletes for commercial purposes. O’Bannon’s primary argument is that upon graduation, student-athletes should be entitled to financial compensation for the NCAA’s commercial use of their image. This is because, if not, it would violate the terms and conditions of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. However, the NCAA’s response said that amateurism and its principles are upheld and maintained in these cases.
This case came about after O’Bannon saw his likeness from the 1995 UCLA championship team used in the Electronic Arts Sports video game titled NCAA Basketball 09 without his permission. The game featured an unnamed UCLA player that matched several of O’Bannon’s playing characteristics, including his power forward position, height, weight, bald head, skin tone, No. 31 jersey and left-handed shot.
District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled in favor of O’Bannon, holding that the NCAA’s policies and rules “operate as an unreasonable restraint of trade” and in fact violates antitrust law. She ordered that schools should be allowed to offer full cost-of-attendance scholarships to athletes, covering cost-of-living expenses that were not currently part of NCAA scholarships. Wilken also ruled that college be permitted to place as much as $5,000 into a trust for each athlete per year of eligibility. The NCAA subsequently appealed the ruling, arguing that Wilken did not properly consider NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma. In that case, the NCAA was denied control of college football television rights, but the court also stated: “To preserve the character and quality of the ‘product,’ athletes must not be paid.”
Tony Miller teaches sports management and exercise science courses and is the lifeguard manager and pool supervisor for Bob Jones University’s aquatics facility. He also serves as an assistant coach and director of basketball operations for the school’s men’s basketball team.
Professor at Bob Jones University Tony Miller thinks this case is going to be the foundation of what created all this controversy.
“Even though (O’Bannon) wasn’t the first to have this happen to him, this will be the case that California legislation have an influence on how we view this issue now,” Miller said.
The U.S. Sports Academy Doctoral candidate also played EA Sports video games in his childhood, and like O’Bannon, would easily identify all the players.
“I would know who was each player based on their height and weight even though none of the players’ jerseys didn’t have name plates on the back,” Miller said. “I would upload players’ last names from memory cards onto the game and insert them on the players’ jerseys.”
Miller also doesn’t think the NCAA had any good intentions behind making this announcement, and that the timing of such was inevitable.
“The NCAA wasn’t going to do anything unless they felt pressured by other forces,” Miller said. “They would probably continue with the traditional amateurism model if the California law didn’t come to light.”
From the athlete side of this, senior forward from Quinnipiac men’s soccer Eamon Whelan says he plays a sport that’s not a big money-maker, though he likes the change.
Eamon Whelan was the unanimous Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year in 2018, scoring 12 goals during that campaign.
“Coaches and colleges are making a lot of money and I think the athletes deserve a lot of it because they’re a huge reason for that,” Whelan said.
Senior midfielder from Quinnipiac women’s lacrosse Victoria Bobinski concurs with Whelan, as she believes lacrosse doesn’t have a lot of money either. However, she also thinks there needs to be a lot of rules behind the policy.
“There should be a percentage limit of what athletes can make because there can be a huge gap between a top-tier university versus a small school that gets no recognition,” Bobinski said. “I think there needs to be a level playing field, especially when it comes to the differences between men’s and women’s sports.”
Victoria Bobinski was named a part of the 2018 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Academic Team. She has an identical twin sister named Ashley.
From the coaching standpoint, University of Connecticut women’s ice hockey head coach Chris Mackenzie is in the neutral zone when it comes to his stance on the policy.
“I’m not for it, but I’m not against it, either,” Mackenzie said. I’m very interested in seeing where the NCAA goes with it because this topic has certainly warranted attention.”
Mackenzie pointed out that UConn likely has 10 or less athletes that will be affected by this policy because he believes only basketball and football stars at top schools will take advantage of this rule. Whelan and Bobinski voiced similar thoughts, as well.
Chris MacKenzie is in his seventh season in charge of the UConn women
However, Mackenzie has formulated a unique, creative way for women’s hockey players to make money off their name, image and likeness off the ice.
“I think student-athletes going back home and creating a hockey school for themselves is something they can profit from,” Mackenzie said. “You can train, have a camp and make money all at the same time.”
On the other hand, Quinnipiac women’s soccer head coach Dave Clarke says his viewpoint is “three-fold” coming from a former college athlete, coach and outsider. However, he thinks the NCAA’s mission might become jeopardized.
In 19 seasons as the women’s soccer head coach, Dave Clarke has a 170-168-37 overall record, which features a 151-153-35 mark while at Quinnipiac.
“I understand why it’s in place, but I also think that we have to maintain the integrity of Division I athletics and having players going to school to prioritize their education,” Clarke said.
Quinnipiac sports economics professor Donn Johnson has been in favor of this change for a long time.
“The amateurism model has been there for over 100 years, and I think that’s starting to change,” Johnson said.
Johnson supports letting the economic factors play their role, even in college sports.
“I think the market forces and politicians are finally telling the NCAA to address this,” Johnson said. “At this point, they knew they were stuck.”
Donn Johnson currently teaches Principles of Macroeconomics, Intermediate and Sports Economics at Quinnipiac University.
He also thinks the NCAA is corrupt and unethical all along for not allowing college athletes to profit off themselves.
“From a moral standpoint, you’re taking revenue they generate and keeping it for yourself and others for your own salaries,” Johnson said. “They should get paid for the value they create.”
Associate professor of sports management at the Ohio State University David Ridpath notes the hypocrisy the NCAA has showed in the sense that it gives off the impression that “the world would end” if college athletes could profit off their own brand. And now, they’re “singing a different tune.”
“The NCAA would have never been progressive enough or unselfish enough to make this change on their own,” Ridpath said.
David Ridpath has several practical experiences working in intercollegiate athletics and higher education. He is often cited in major media as an expert on college sports matters.
Ridpath believes the NCAA uses terms like amateurism and collegiate model to accomplish a certain agenda.
“The current model cannot sustain and things like amateurism and collegiate model do not exist and are terms of art used to restrict basic rights,” Ridpath said.
Ridpath also mentioned the NCAA has a hidden agenda they’re pursuing based on three falsely promoted myths.
“The NCAA is based on academic integrity, amateurism and competitive equity,” Ridpath said. “Overall, none of these exist and are used to perpetuate public relations so others can get rich.”
Despite these NCAA criticisms, Ridpath says its core value should reflect Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch’s famous line: “You first deal with the athletes rights—everything else is an adjustment.”
That said, he and many others like where the NCAA is headed.
“It’s a big, needed step, but there are many questions still to be answered,” Ridpath said.
And the public is expecting those questions to be answered on or before January 2021. Topics that should be answered by the NCAA include any cap limit, what’s permissible to profit from, its effect on the athlete recruiting process, the athletic contracts’ conditions and any major differences between sport, sex and division level. At this point, coaches, athletes, fans, administrators and the rest of the college sports world eagerly await to see what transpires from here.
NCAA timeline representing significant events behind amateurism and college athletes’ ability to profit off themselves.
“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 toclerycenter.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
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 the2017 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
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.
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 outan incident report form if they are aware of any hateful behaviors occurring on campus.
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.
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
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.
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 releasedher 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 anew director of gender equity. This role was previously known as the Title IX coordinator. Lee and Oxnevad sat down tointerview 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 acase 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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
Vice President and Dean of Students Monique Drucker stated that residence halls Larson, Troup and Perlroth will be ready for the 2020-2021 academic year with air conditioning and will be asbestos-free.
Quinnipiac University had to shut down three residence halls over the summer after finding materials containing asbestos during renovations.
Students living in these three residence halls, Larson, Perlroth and Troup, had to deal with rearrangements of housing.
The sophomores who selected to live in Larson and Perlroth were moved to Mountainview, Founders and Crescent on York Hill.
Construction vehicle in front of Perlroth residence hall.
The students affected received a $1,000 housing credit, $400 for the Fall 2019 semester and $600 for the Spring 2020 semester. Students that were assigned Crescent on York Hill will receive an upgraded parking permit which allows Hilltop parking on Mount Carmel campus daily from 6 a.m. until midnight.
Drucker sent out an email notifying students on the issue.
“I write to advise you that the Larson, Perlroth and Troup Residence Halls will not be available for occupancy during the 2019-2020 academic year, as previously planned,” wrote Drucker. “Students who were scheduled to reside in the suites will now be assigned to alternative on-campus residence hall.”
Students were given new housing assignments through MyHousing. Many suites were divided up without being told or provided other options prior to this.
“I was supposed to live in Perlroth with seven of my friends, but I was moved up to York and two of my friends were put in a different room,” said sophomore Elizabeth McGrann.
Asbestos is a common term used to describe “groups of naturally occurring fibrous material known to cause cancer,” according to the Connecticut Department of Health.
Up until 1989 asbestos was used globally, however in the United States it is banned. You cannot build and use asbestos, but if it is in buildings predated 1989 they do not need to be taken down.
Jose C. Alvarez, assistant teaching professor of civil engineering at Quinnipiac, explained some of the challenges associated with asbestos removal.
“The removal of asbestos is costly and it does take some time since you need to seal the spaces and you need to go little by little,” he said. “It’s not like you can do the building all in one go.”
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, they issued a final rule banning most asbestos-containing products. “Which went into effect in 1991 after the regulation was overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. This regulation banned new uses of asbestos products that would be initiated for the first time after 1989.”
Aerial picture from April 1991 of Quinnipiac University, circled are the residence halls where asbestos was found.
Larson, one of the very first residential halls at Quinnipiac, was built in 1965, a time when asbestos was widely used. Then in 1966, Neil Salon became the third president of Quinnipiac and he sought to expand the institution. Under his leadership, two new residence halls were built: Irma Tator and Dana.
These three halls were built when the health risks of asbestos were not widely known.
Aerial picture from November 2019 of Quinnipiac University, circled are the residence halls where asbestos was found.
“Asbestos is really dangerous for you to inhale, being in contact with it, so as soon as you find it and it has been impacted in some way, meaning it went out into the air, you need to remove it,” Alvarez said. “The removal process is usually to clean it and remove it, it requires you to seal EPA, Haz Mat suits and seal the area and then wet clean/vaccum the whole thing as you are removing it.”
The “Coming Soon” banner on the construction barriers.
Different residential halls hold different amount of students per suite, many groups had to be split up. Quinnipiac Residential Life divided these rooms without asking the students what they wanted. They were just reassigned.
“It felt surreal, the housing selection process is so tough and I had dealt with it, but then finding out a couple months later that I was assigned a different room with different people, it was hard,” said sophomore Evie Casey.
Hamden’s Building Official, Robert Labulis, applied for air conditioning permits, which initiated the renovation. According to Labulis the University’s Connecticut-licensed asbestos consultant inspected the buildings and determined that certain material in the buildings contained asbestos.
Regarding students’ health concerns Labulis said, “unless students were chewing on the walls then their health in the buildings were not at risk.”
Gates set up in front or Troup and Larson residence halls to keep students out of the construction site.
“Students were not at risk because it wasn’t in the air. It needs to have been broken down and have been in the air,” Alvarez said. “Asbestos works that as long as you are not impacting it, like if you are not making holes to put a TV on the wall, you should be fine with asbestos inside your walls.”
According to Sal Filardi, vice president for facilities and capital planning, you are not required to remove asbestos if it was put there before 1989. However the University decided to remove all of the asbestos.
“We could have painted over the walls and carpet the floor and we wouldn’t have to worry about the asbestos,” Filardi said.
Almost five months after the news broke of asbestos being found in residence halls, the buildings are still closed and are currently being renovated.
“Even though those buildings are going to be asbestos free, it will take them a year to finish,” Casey said. “The school isn’t going to do any renovations on other buildings because they know they will find asbestos and with the mess from this past summer they probably aren’t going to risk it again.”
A new West Woods school was supposed to come to Hamden but it looks like it will have to wait.
In 2016 the legislative council approved a $26 million project proposing to build a smaller school, but as of this year that is no longer the case.
The new school is no longer being built because the town missed the Oct. 31 date to start construction. Although the town missed their date to start construction Superintendent Jody Goeler says a new West Woods Elementary school is still possible.
West Woods Elementary School. Photo credit: Cam Silver
The reason for a new West Woods building was due to an ongoing water intrusion in the building because of an old roof and HVAC system. And now because there will not be a new school, the town still has to address these needs.
The company that’s supposed to be building the new school, Silver Petrucelli and Associates, is going to conduct a water study to see if the current building site or new construction site will be suitable for a building in the long term. They are expected to have a report by mid January.
Last fall Hamden Board of Education proposed a 3R plan which is to balance elementary schools, move 6th grade to middle school and consolidate schools. The Board of Education also wanted to renovate West Woods instead of building a new one but the state required Hamden to stick to the plan of building a new structure.
Goeler wrote a letter to the state requesting an extension on West Woods and Alice Peck Elementary School projects. The state rescinded the money for West Woods but they will still be renovating other schools like, Alice Peak elementary and Hamden Middle School.
“There was never a grant. It was a percentage of construction cost reimbursement that was agreed upon by the state of Connecticut.” said Karen Kaplan Director of Program Innovation, Technology & Communications.
Hamden Middle School is on the priority list in 2020 for a new wing for sixth graders. This project will allow Hamden to get a reimbursement to begin the project and is estimated to take 15 months.
To learn more information like, Hamden’s plans for the new schools, projected timelines and expected completion dates, visit their websites.
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)
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.
Between grad transfers ,players in the transfer portal and players that have entered their names in the draft teams will look very different come end of the summer. Roster management has become as important as any aspect of coaching for high major programs. @CollegeGameDay
“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)
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.
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.
Now, Quinnerly will play as a 24-year old, redshirt senior. For what purpose? The NCAA’s transfer policy is an unholy, unjustifiable mess. If Quinnerly played softball or all but five other sports, he could transfer at semester and be immediately eligible. https://t.co/tju0iA1kGJ
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.
“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.
As the end of the fall semester draws near, Quinnipiac students are already preparing for the holidays. Whether this is making plans to celebrate a specific holiday or just spend time with family, the community has a lot to look forward to.
Senior film major Meredith Fox enjoys spending time with her family all throughout Hanukkah. Photo credit:
“For the holidays my family always goes to my grandmother’s house and we all exchange gifts and light the candles,” said Meredith Fox, third-year 3+1 FTM major. “It’s nice to get everyone together for a fun holiday like Hanukkah.”
Junior nursing major Melissa Buck enjoys the events that Quinnipiac hosts during the holiday season, such as the annual holiday dinner. (Photo credit: Alexis Guerra)
Along with students planning ahead, the Office of Religious Life aims to meet the personal religious needs of students of all faiths during the season of celebration. The three groups represented in the office include Catholic and Protestant chaplains as well as a Muslim religious life coordinator, according to the Quinnipiac website. The Peter C. Hereld House also regularly hosts events for the Jewish community on campus.
“I think Quinnipiac does a pretty good job of keeping the celebrations inclusive,” said Melissa Buck, junior nursing major. “I always look forward to the student centers being decorated and the different events that are going, especially before finals.”
According to Father Jordan Lenaghan, executive director of University Religious Life, the university looks to incorporate all religions. This year, Quinnipiac’s admitted students included those who identify as Wiccan, Scientologist and with the Reformed Church (Christian).
With new religions joining the campus community, the Center for Religion hosted an Irish Cultural Christmas party sponsored by Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute. The Quinnipiac Catholic Chaplaincy had an Advent Mass during finals review week. Regardless, students are still looking forward to going home for the holidays.
Quinnipiac held its annual holiday dinner for undergraduate students on Dec. 5 on the Mount Carmel Campus. (Photo credit: Alexis Guerra)
“I’ll be celebrating with family, by going to mass and then having dinner and exchanging gifts,” said Grace Senra, president of the Catholic Chaplaincy. “We’ll also incorporate a Hanukkah celebration and light the menorah, as one of my uncles is Jewish!”
Along with plans for the winter break, Quinnipiac has its own fair share of holiday traditions. On Dec. 3, members of the university’s community came together for a Quad lighting ceremony, complete with cooking decorating and holiday carols. The university also hosts its annual holiday dinner for undergraduate students on Dec. 5.
“To me,” said Senra. “Celebrating the holidays and keeping up with traditions is hugely important. I love being with family, and the special religious ceremonies such as mass and lighting the Advent wreath are some of my favorite parts of the Church year.”
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.
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.
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.”
