Issue 2_The SpringHillian_Fall2021

SpringHillian

Volume 124, Issue 2 Thursday, October 7, 2021

SHC Mourning the Passing of Fr. Lucey

Caroline Landaiche Manager

Spring Hill College announced the passing of Fr. Gregory F. Lucey, S.J. on Sept. 30.

Fr. Lucey passed away at St. Camillus Jesuit Community in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, surrounded by family. The funeral will be held in Milwaukee, WI with a memorial Mass and burial of cremains at Spring Hill College. It will be held Tuesday, October 12 at St. Joseph Chapel. Visitation will be from 9:30 am to 11:00 am, followed by the Memorial Mass at 11:00 am and reception at 12:15 pm. Plans for burial in Jesuit Cemetery on the campus of Spring Hill College will be announced at a later date..

One of seven children, Lucey grew up in Ferryville, WI. He earned

both undergraduate and graduate degrees from Saint Louis University. Additionally, he earned a master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1951 and

was ordained a priest in 1964. In August 2020, Lucey celebrated his 70th year in the Society of Jesus.

Fr. Lucey dedicated 22 years to Spring Hill College as both Chancellor and President. According to a college announcement, Lucey became the 34th President of Spring Hill College on June 1, 1997. During his presidency, six new buildings and three residence halls were built, and renovations of 12 existing buildings and the athletic felds were completed. He led the eforts to restore St. Joseph Chapel and was responsible for many restorations and developments throughout campus as well as increasing enrollment.

At the height of the pandemic in March 2020, Fr. Lucey said his last mass at St. Joseph’s Chapel before his retirement from the college. During

his homily, he stood in front of an empty chapel and a livestream camera and addressed remote congregants saying: “I realized that, if my presence has been a blessing for you, you have been a blessing for me. Anytime my presence is a blessing to someone, they are a blessing to me. I am grateful and hopeful.”

Dr. Joe Lee, President of Spring Hill College, shared: “Fr. Lucey touched so many lives here at the College and in our community. While his loss will be felt deeply for some time to come, his love for Christ, the College, and the Mobile community will continue to live on. We see evidence of his stewardship all over campus.”

Graduate of Spring Hill and current Director of Campus Ministry Colleen Lee remembers Fr. Lucey to have said “We are not a college with a mission but

a mission with a college,” adding, “He instilled in us the importance of our mission, and he made it the centerpiece of our work here at Spring Hill.”

S.A.R.T. is Back on Spring Hill’s Campus

Elizabeth Thompson Reporter

The Sexual Assault Response Team is back on campus at Spring Hill College. SART consists of staf and faculty on campus that coordinate victimcentered responses to reports of sexual assault.

The SART team on campus is working to improve the efectiveness of current coordinated responses

to sexual assaults. The victim-centered approach that SART uses provides compassionate and highly skilled support for victims dealing with the efects of sexual assault.

According to the SART supervisor, Emilee Truitt, “The biggest change being that the SART Victim Advocates are now 100 percent confdential so students can report without fear of any information being shared without their consent”.

The team is also much smaller now. This ensures that the team has helpful and skilled staf and faculty to assist the students.

SART was active on campus in 2015, but due to issues with mandated reporting it was disbanded. The college would use resources of campus when an assault was reported.

Truitt revealed that the SART team on campus has not received any calls as of now. The team wants to get more visibility on campus

so students are aware that these resources are available and can gain trust with the students.

The SART team on campus can be contacted at 251-609-1245 and their email address sart@shc.edu. Spring Hill College ofers the opportunity for confdential reporting of these incidents including on campus licensed professionals, members of the clergy on campus within their licensed ordination, and members of the SART team.

Research has shown that SART teams on campuses can increase awareness of the issue and the reporting of sexual assaults. Within 106 hours of a sexual assault, victims can receive a forensic medical exam which can be reported or unreported by the choice of the victim.

For more information visit their webpage at https:// www.shc.edu/student-life/ hill-speak/sart/.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

34th & 36th President of Spring Hill College, Fr. Gregory F Lucey, S.J.

LIFESTYLE

Spring Hill Names New Chief Financial Offi cer

Madeleine Braham Reporter

Dr. Kenneth W. England is the new Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Ofcer of Spring Hill College. He will maintain the College’s fnances while engaging with donors and alumni and advancing admissions and recruitment.

England stated, “I am thrilled to be part of the Spring Hill College family. I am excited about the opportunity to work alongside Dr. Lee and his cabinet to make a positive impact on this wonderful institution. There are so many fantastic opportunities here at Spring Hill and I look

forward to helping our students, faculty, and staf achieve their goals and ambitions. The work ahead

will transform Spring Hill College into a true beacon of excellence on the hill for generations to come.”

England has more than twelve years of experience in policy, budget operations, stewardship, and engagement to bring to Spring Hill College. He had been the Vice President of Business and Finance of Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he oversaw the institution’s fnancial afairs and worked with diferent departments to promote strategic growth across the institution.

President E. Joseph Lee, Ph.D., said, “We are excited to work with Ken as our College is initiating some important new growth opportunities.

Throughout his career, he has achieved phenomenal success in bringing various departments together to efciently run fnancial operations and increase donor engagement. I am confdent that his leadership will support our eforts to maintain a competitive edge. We are pleased to welcome him and his family to Spring Hill College and to Mobile.”

England served as Vice President of Administrative Services at Corning Community College in Corning, New York. He has also worked at Birmingham’s Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law as Assistant Dean of Administration prior to coming to Spring Hill College.

According to England’s LinkedIn profle, he has been working in both academic and non-academic positions for more than 15 years, from running campus bookstores, post ofces, and print shops, to overseeing event planning and admission operations. As England wrote, “My diverse background in higher education has benefted me by allowing me the opportunity to oversee many areas of a university.”

He received a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree from Samford University and received an EdD in Higher Education Administration from the University of Alabama.

Non-student Fans Must Buy Game Tickets

Madeline Ortego Reporter

Spring Hill College is now requiring non-student spectators to purchase tickets in order to attend any athletic competitions that occur on campus.

Spring Hill athletic teams have resumed a full fall sports schedule, and spectators are once again allowed to attend sporting events while following COVID-19 protocols. In addition to these COVID protocols, there is another diference for these spectators; they must pay for admission to these events. Tickets can be purchased online prior to the event or at the gate with a credit card for $7 plus

a processing fee, making the total $8.55. While this change afects fans from the outside community, Spring Hill students, faculty, and staf can still be admitted for free if they show their SHC ID.

During previous years, admission to all sporting events has been free for all spectators. Now, those wishing to attend these events must purchase a ticket through an online ticketing service. Athletic director, Joe Niland said, “One of the issues we have had here at Spring Hill forever was having the ability to do ticketing smoothly and have personnel to do it.”

According to Niland, this online service eliminates worries about the need

for petty cash, money changing hands, or who has the money box over the weekend.

Not all student-athletes were excited about this change for spectators, especially their parents. Senior soccer player, Grace Riley said, “While it’s a good idea to charge admission at games to help raise funds for our sports teams, I think parents of players should be automatically allowed into games.”

Every athletic competition has a cost associated with it, like the multiple ofcials that must be compensated for their time. “We haven’t been covering those charges except through our budgets, which aren’t very big anyway. Charging people is important and hopefully

we will reap some revenue to help ofset some of these costs,” said Niland.

Charging admissions is easier for indoor sports like basketball and volleyball because there is a gate that spectators must use to enter,

but there is concern about spectators watching outdoor sports, like soccer, softball, and baseball without paying because there is no gate that they must use to enter. com/.

SHC MEDIA TEAM:

The SpringHillian Editor: Summer Poole

Art Director: Regina Gomez-Guillen

Advertising Manager: Caroline Landaiche

BTV Producer: Samantha Gonzalez

BTV Director: Sacha Ducreux

Reporters: Elizabeth Thompson, India Hall, Jacob Little, Madeleine Braham, Carson Reeves, Madeline Ortego

Advisors: Stuart Babington and Gary Wolverton

CFO, Dr. Kenneth England

Picture by: Regina Gomez-Guillen

Donovan O’Malley and Matt Moreno working the admissions table in the recreation center. Picture by: Madeline Ortego

Should Masks be Required Indoors?

Jacob Little Reporter

When it comes to the issue of face masks, the opinions of students and staf members alike have shifted considerably since this time last year. People might not make such an explicit declaration to that efect, but it is easy to see a marked change in people’s adherence to and enforcement of Covid related guidelines which, although diferent in some ways, are ostensibly quite similar to what they were a year ago.

The recent rise in cases in the city of Mobile, and the potential threat caused by the new Delta variant, lead to the reinstatement of the

indoor mask requirement. This happened on Aug. 4 and does exactly what its title suggests; the use of a mask is required in all indoor spaces. Interestingly, it applies to both those who are vaccinated and those who are not. This is interesting because it may also be a point of contention

between the students (as well as some faculty) and the administrators. Many students who are weary of the mask mandates, and who are also vaccinated, may ask “why must I continue to adhere to the mandates if I supposedly pose a much lesser threat to those around me than someone who is unvaccinated?”

Some students also feel that the mask requirements are an unnecessary use of control on the part of the administration. Some students have pointed out that the lines surrounding when a mask should be worn or not can easily become blurred. For example, masks do not have to be worn in the Student Center when eating.

However, many do not wear masks regardless of whether they are eating or not. This, which leads to lax attitude around mask wearing, as well as the fact that many may be feeling the fatigue of the year old mask mandate, has created some tension.

Fifth year Senior Fergus O’Rourke shared his thoughts on the situation: “My frst question would be this: to what extent are we (as a campus) serious about our eforts to combat this supposedly serious threat. For instance, when I enter a class I’m told that I have to wear a mask. But if I go down to the apartments on a Thursday night, I’ll fnd myself surrounded by hundreds of people without masks, and no social

distance. We can do most things without wearing a mask, and I am grateful for that. Sometimes you might run into someone who will get on your case about the mask, but unless the enforcement is consistent, and gatherings are severely limited - which they are not - and unless there is an insistence on wearing masks that actually make a diference - which the ones most people wear do notthere is little point in having any of these rules at all. It seems more like we have these rules for the sake of it, rather than having them in order to make a diference in slowing the spread of Covid. What scares me is how gleefully some people seem to take up the cause of Covid policemen, but that’s a story for another day.”

Why is Having a Spiritual Leader Important?

Summer Poole Editor

Spiritual leadership can be an important aspect to a college student’s life, especially if they attend a spiritual-based university. College can be challenging for students, not just on

an academic and personal level, but on a spiritual level as well. According to Falcon Media, 48 percent of college students fnd themselves doubting, seeking, or are conficted with religious or spiritual issues. College is where students fnd out who they really are, and fnding out who they are spiritually can be a bigger issue than people realize.

Not only do students need guidance spiritually, but institutions do as well. According to US News, there are more than 140 Christian colleges and universities in the U.S. There are 28 Jesuit institutions in the U.S., including our own Spring Hill College. These colleges try to help their students become more spiritually involved by having spiritual-based organizations and events that everyone is invited to, such as campus ministry.

Many colleges that aren’t Christian create their own groups for Bible study and to learn about diferent religions.

Having a mentor can be important while going through your college years. Someone you can look up to and get advice from could come in the form of a spiritual leader. A lot of college students deal with mental health disorders, so having someone there willing to talk to you is an important role that leaders

in this feld play. A study done by the American Psychological Association showed that 47 percent of college students deal with mental health issues. With that in mind, its easy to understand why a spiritual leader might be important in this situation.

When thinking about what it means to be a spiritual leader, I found myself thinking of the late Fr. Lucey who was a prominent fgure on our campus. Fr. Lucey was not

only an administrator of the college, but was also a leader in faith and service. He was a mentor to many and was an important staple in the Spring Hill College and Mobile Community. Fr. Lucey will be loved and missed by many.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staf, they comfort me” -Psalm 23:4

EDITORIAL POLICY:

SUBMISSIONS:

The SpringHillian publishes guest submissions at the discretion of the student-editor and section editors. Submissions should be less than 300 words, and editors reserve the right to edit the submissions for length and content. Original writings should be mailed or delivered to: Student-editor, The SpringHillian, Communication Arts, Spring Hill College, 4000 Dauphin Street, Mobile, AL 36608. Submissions may also be sent as emailed attachments to: shcmedia@email. shc.edu.

The SpringHillian is published fve times each semester from September to December. The views expressed herein do not represent the views of Spring Hill College and are not the views of the faculty, administration, staff or students. They are the views of the individual columnists.

Around The Hill

Aftermath of the Watermelon Bash.

Photo by India Hall

Catherine Cranley and her team at Watermelon Bash.

Photo by India Hall

Nicolette D’Ambrosio, Maddy Coles, and Bebe Lara for the Phi Mu’s Invite.

Ashley Burroughs and Sydney Roland at theTri-Delta Invite.

Best Freshman team at Watermelon Bash.

Tri-Delta at Watermelon Bash.

Around The Hill

Phi Mu, frst place winners, at Watermelon Bash.

Grace Riley and President Joe Lee at the “Pie in the Face” event with the womens soccer team.

Becca Howard and Hallie Matherne at the DG Invite

Kira Babiarz at the “Pie in the Face” event with the womens soccer team.

LIFESTYLE

Lambda Chi Watermelon Bash Beats Record

India Hall Reporter

On October 2, 2021, Lambda Chi Alpha hosted their annual Watermelon Bash to raise money and canned goods for their philanthropy.

The students at Spring Hill College and members of the college’s Greek community participated in collecting canned food items and raising money for Lambda Chi’s philanthropy, “Feeding the Gulf Coast,” The Caroline Lewis Memorial Scholarship a scholarship named after a former student

Caroline Lewis who passed unexpectedly during her time here, and Hurricane Ida relief for the people who were afected.

Feeding the Gulf Coast is a local organization here in Mobile that raises

money to feed families in need. Feeding the Gulf Coast is always looking for volunteers, as well as donations. See the link at the end of this story for more information.

Several teams came out Saturday afternoon at Dorn feld to participate in a series

of events such as tug of war, a watermelon eating contest, and other sorts of relay races. In the week leading up to this event, all teams were in competition to raise funds and buy as many canned goods as possible Junior cheer team

member Codi Clemmons refected on this being her frst watermelon bash, “It was a perfect day to come together and not only support a good cause but to also be a good team player. I felt extremely happy to be a part of the event. It was a great way to build

morale and encourage other teams. We showed up ready to have fun and we left together as a strong team, confdent in our performance and abilities to compete on and of the court.” Clemmons said that she was really surprised her team went undefeated.

This year went down as the most successful Watermelon Bash that Lambda Chi has ever had. They raised 20,000 pounds of canned goods and over $1500 in donations. First place was awarded to Phi Mu, second place went to Tri Delta, and best performance also went to Tri Delta. For more information on how you could contribute to Feeding the Gulf Coast visit the link below https://www. feedingthegulfcoast.org

Greek Events Return to the Hill After One Year

Elizabeth Thompson Reporter

With the start of the fall 2021 school year, students are now able to gather for Greek events which has not been the case since prepandemic spring 2020.

Greek events bring together students involved in Greek life and also students that are not involved. These events are exciting for students to be a part of.

The Panhellenic and the Interfraternity Council (IFC) of Spring Hill maintains Greek life and interfraternity relations on campus. They are attempting to allow more on and of campus events for Greek organizations this school year that safely follow COVID guidelines.

Greek Week was able to happen the second week of this semester. It was an event that brought together

all Greek organizations on campus with activities and games to participate in such as dodgeball. Greek Week provides an opportunity for Greek unity among students as well as a time to get to know students in your own

organization and others. Another Greek event allowed this semester was Meet the Greeks. It was a chance for new and transfer students to meet and learn about the Greek organizations that are

available on campus. This was a chance to include new students in the campus community.

Invite parties held by Greek organizations are very popular on campus both for students involved and

not involved in Greek life. Member of Phi Mu sorority, Meredith Mimnaugh, said “Invite parties are my favorite because I can invite my friends that are not in Phi Mu and theme parties are always fun.” Mimnaugh is looking forward to the upcoming invite party her sorority will be hosting themed “Bonnamu.”

According to member of Tri Delta sorority, Abbie Curlee “This year was my frst time going to an invite party being a part of Tri Delta and I am so thankful for everyone’s hard work that has allowed these parties to happen.”

Students involved in Greek organizations are planning to continue these Greek related events on campus this school year. Panhellenic and IFC will continue to monitor covid cases on campus to make sure any future events are safe for everyone involved.

Delta Gamma member, Scout Paulus participating in Watermelon Bash. Picture by: India Hall

Mary Leighton Christian, Annamarie Allen, Natalie Mars, & Sydney Barter at

Picture by: Madeline Ortego

Back the Badgers Crushes Expectations

Sacha Ducreux Manager

Spring Hill College athletics raised over $80 thousand dollars during the fundraising campaign “Back the Badgers” which sets a record for this event.

The athletic teams on campus surpassed the initial goal of $15 thousand dollars that was set at the beginning of this “very successful” campaign, said athletic director Joe Niland.

A total of 732 donors backed the Badgers for this 2021 campaign that fnished on Oct. 1. As of right now, a little below 85 thousand dollars have been raised according to Givecampus.com. “I didn’t expect us to get as high as we did. We need to take this momentum and keep building on it,” said Niland. However, he expects this amount to rise around

$90 thousand dollars in the next few days as some checks are still coming in. “It really shows the support of families, friends and alumni,” he added.

For Niland, this success is the result of all the efort put in by many people on campus: “Development ofce and Cris Smith did a great job, student athletes really got involved and coaches got more familiar with what crowd source funding was,” he said. Just like most of the programs, the men’s soccer raised way more money this year than in the past (just over $4.5 thousand this year against $50 dollars last year according to Givecampus.com.) Soccer player João Amaral explains this improvement with the overall team’s efort that was much higher than in the past. “Our coach was more involved and pushed us to be more involved as well. We were also more creative

in the way we advertised for the campaign,” he stated.

As a result, four teams raised over $10 thousand dollars according to Givecampus.com. With the most money raised comes the men’s golf team which is closely followed by the men’s basketball team. The volleyball team completes the podium and softball is

the fourth team that raised over 10 thousand dollars.

Joe Niland hopes this money will help the Badgers “move towards the 21st century” especially with the installation of cameras on the diferent athletic areas across campus. His plan is not only to stream the games, but also to broadcast them with a play-by-play

person, just the way it is done in many other colleges.

The athletic director wants to keep up this energy to improve all the athletic programs at Spring Hill and is ambitious for next year’s campaign: “now that we know we can do 85, why can’t we do 100?” he added.

Bowling Kicks Off a Promising Season

Madeline Ortego Reporter

The Spring Hill College bowling team competed in their frst tournament this past weekend in Dallas, Texas.

Each day of the weekend was a separate tournament. The team placed second overall on Saturday and was able to place frst overall on Sunday for their frst win of the season. The team’s performance last weekend inspired high hopes for the rest of the season.

Head coach Ben Hoefs is looking forward to competing in the rest of the year. “Our goal obviously is to make sectionals, which is at the end of the year, so we have to comprise as many points as we can moving forward. As we bowl in probably six to eight tournaments this year,” said Hoefs.

Last year the bowling

team made it to sectionals. Senior and current captain of the bowling team, Easton Hollis, has high hopes that they will make it there again this upcoming season.

“Last year we made it to sectionals, and we bowled

alright. We defnitely could have done better. But to see that we can go pretty far in sectionals is awesome and there is a lot of hope for this year and that is something I am really excited about,” said Hollis.

Hoefs echoed Hollis’ hopes of returning to sectionals this year, “Our expectations are always high. We’ve got some good recruits that have come in this year, so we are moving forward, we’re learning.”

Hoefs has been coaching bowling at Spring Hill since 2013 and has been involved in bowling for more than 60 years. He even held a professional card at one point. Hoefs favorite part of coaching is being able “to give back to the game that has been good to me.”

This year’s bowling roster features fourteen members, four women and ten men. This year’s tournament play looks a little diferent for the team that will compete. In the past, they have competed as a men’s team and a women’s team, but this year they will compete as two mixed tournament teams instead of separate ones.

Mascot, Beaumont the Badger standing on Rydex Commons.

Member of the Bowling Team at practice.

Picture by: Madeline Ortego

“I

HannahLinss Playing Soccer

MorganSpivey Visiting Home

AlessandroDoria Spending time with Family

CiaraBridges Traveling

EricAnderson Hanging with Friends