Issue 5_The SpringHillian_Spring2021

The SpringHillian

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

The Italy Center Back in Business this Fall!

Summer Poole Reporter

After a full year of the Italy Center being closed Spring Hill College will be offering the chance to attend Italy in the fall 2021 semester.

The last time that Spring Hill students were sent over to Italy, they were forced to come back early after COVID-19 had shut the country down.

Jordan Byrne, the Assistant Director of the Italy Center, said, “We have been working all year on a reopening plan that includes safety and health protocols.” Byrne stated that all the students, faculty, and staff will be required to follow local health guidelines.

Former Italy Center student Cecelia Dupepe said, “I haven’t done a lot of research into the COVID guidelines in Italy or what

precautions the Italy Center is taking to send students over there, but the Italy Center has always done a fantastic job at making students feel safe and making even the most introverted of students find enjoyment around the country.”

Byrne stated that

the Italy Center is planning to host around 30 students in the fall, which is a little less than what they hosted pre-pandemic. “I have found that the interest to study abroad is still there, but students are deferring to future terms to ensure they can go and hope for more normal-

cy” said Byrne. Dupepe said “We’re only in college for four years. The Italy Center offers for guided living in a foreign country for four months, which is an opportunity you wouldn’t get after college is over.” According to Reuters, the number of COVID related deaths and illnesses have

slowly started to tread down. Italy’s daily tally of new infections has gone down from 12,694 from 15,370.

Sophomore Samantha Merritt is among those students who are planning on attending Italy in the fall. “I love that Spring Hill offers this program. I think it is a wonderful opportunity for students to travel in a somewhat monitored environment and get comfortable with traveling if they are not already” said Merritt. When asked if she had any advice for future attendees, Dupepe said, “My main advice I give to everyone going abroad is to spend a lot of time in your host city, so with the Italy Center, spend a lot of time in Bologna.”

If you are interested in attending Italy during the 2021-22 school year you can contact Jordan Byrne at jbyrne@shc.edu or go to www. shc.edu/italy.

Canvas Set to Replace Schoology this Summer

Caroline Landaiche Reporter

Spring Hill College is making a switch from Schoology to Canvas as their learning management system beginning during Summer 2021.

During the current Spring semester, Spring Hill College announces their transition to Canvas from Schoology for the summer and fall semesters. Executive Director of the Center for Online Learning, Geri Genovese, says that this will not affect tuition in any way. For the first summer term, professors will have the option to choose Canvas or School-

ogy. For the second term and beyond, only Canvas will be used.

Genovese stated the primary reasoning for switching was: “We used information received from student feedback on online teaching and listened so we knew we needed to use a robust tool to increase educational access for all students by supporting technology-mediated delivery of high quality instruction, and providing students with a convenient and cost-effective system for achieving their educational goal.” Additionally, Canvas has a simpler interface that is able to engage with more third party tools such as Google Drive.

While it is not known

how students will react to the change yet, Genovese said that there is a positive response from faculty and has been overall positive; “We realize it’s not easy to recreate course content but our rollout has provided support resources such as online materials, in-person training and consultation opportunities.”

A specific feature that the Center for Online Learning is focusing on is accessibility. Genovese states “Accessible design also considers economic, cultural, and social barriers that might prevent users from accessing, understanding, or using your learning management system...The Center for Online Learning has

been working with faculty to create quality standards to make navigation easy for students to use and this way they can concentrate on the material in the course rather than the system.”

The Center for Online Learning will be creating videos for students to

learn the Canvas interface in the coming semesters. The school hopes all the students appreciate this change and are patient with it. The administration is hopeful students will end up being happy with the switch from Schoology to Canvas.

SHC students enjoy the Italian sun and explore Italy.

SHC Alumnus Fights Local Period Poverty

Sacha Ducreux Reporter

Alumnus Aïko Pickering has created MOnthly, a charity organization that aims to reduce period poverty in the Mobile area by giving away period products to populations that need it.

The latest action Pickering took to collect more period products was to place three boxes around campus. Those boxes are located at the back of the cafeteria, in front of the Burke library, and in Quinlan Hall. They will stay at those locations for the remainder of the semester. It is possible to donate “unused menstrual products and brown paper bags” which serve as packaging for the “period packs,” said Pickering.

According to her, the goal behind those boxes is not only to collect products to directly fight period poverty, but also to “educate”

and raise awareness about the subject in the Spring Hill community. “It’s not talked about down here and people aren’t super receptive.

I guess it’s just a topic that you’re not supposed to openly talk about,” she said.

As a former Delta Gamma member, Aïko Pickering partnered up with DG to place those boxes across campus. “Period poverty is an issue that many people are not aware of [...] What Aïko is doing for the Mobile community is thinking about an issue that is ever present but not openly discussed, and by partnering with Spring Hill College and Delta Gamma that awareness is being spread,” stated DG member Mary Catherine Watson. Pickering moved to England after her graduation in December 2019 where she witnessed the works of many organizations fighting for that cause throughout the United Kingdom. In fact, according to BBC.com: “Scotland has become the first

country in the world to make period products free for all” at the beginning of 2020. The same article from the BBC states: “There is now a local duty on local authorities to ensure that free items such as tampons and sanitary pads are available to ‘anyone who needs them’” in Scotland. Inspired and motivated by this, the Spring Hill alum feels that “we need something like that down here that is tailored to the South,” she said.

According to Pickering, the charity which will soon be officially registered as a nonprofit collected over $900 of donations and a whole lot of products. The organization and the support it is getting are “so much bigger than I thought,” she commented. Only time will tell whether or not MOnthly will keep gaining notoriety in the Mobile area.

2nd Dose of Vaccine on Campus Apr. 30th

Andrew Jones Reporter

Spring Hill College is offering the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on April 30 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Outlaw Recreation Center, it was announced last week.

Sponsored by USA Health, this is the follow-up clinic to an April 9 event in which many students received their first dose.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, over 120 million people have had at least one dose, and over 74 million have been fully vaccinated. The CDC counts peo-

ple as being fully vaccinated when they have received both doses on two separate dates regardless of the time interval. Those who have taken the vaccine have been reported to experience possible symptoms.

SHC student Abigail Standish expressed: “After

my vaccine, I had a couple of side effects but nothing extreme. The worst part was my sore arm which was very painful.” Sophomore Class President Luly Tuñón stated: “It’s super cool to be able to be a part of this new vaccine. It’s all anyone talked about during quarantine and I’m

grateful that it’s finally accessible. I love that Spring Hill is playing its part in promoting a healthier and safer world by offering the vaccine.”

On April 9, the state of Alabama lifted its mask mandate, but Spring Hill College announced that its health and safety protocols would remain in place. These include a mask mandate on the campus, social distanc-

ing and hand-washing. According to the college’s COVID-19 Tracking Dashboard, there have been 38 positive cases reported on the campus since Jan. 19, with all but two of those cases being students.

For more information about the vaccine, see the CDC’s website: https:// covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations

Reporters: Andrew Jones, Caroline Landaiche, Maddie Kurcab, Summer Poole, Sacha Ducreux

The SpringHillian Editor: Olivia McNorton Art Director: Laura Delgado

BTV Producer: Jose Chavarria

BTV Director: Carlos Salmoran

Advisors: Stuart Babington and Gary Wolverton

Aiko Pickering. Photo by Sacha Ducreux

Badgers Ready for In-Person Classes to Return

Due to Covid-19, schools across the country have had both completely online classes and hybrid classes. This was an adjustment here at Spring Hill College for many students who have never had online classes before.

With classes being online, it made learning a more difficult task than in person learning. Now that students are able to receive the COVID vaccine, students and staff are hopeful that classes will be face-to-face next semester.

Both traditional and e-learning have their advantages and disadvantages.

According to Michigan State University, an advantage of online learning is that students can go at their own pace on their own time. A disadvantage is that students at times could be left unengaged and not held ac-

countable for missing work. E-learning allows students to be independent, but it also allows students to at times be bored.

Hybrid learning is a mix between learning in person and online. This was set in place so the classroom schedule could be flexible.

If COVID cases went up, the class could become online. If COVID cases went down, the class could slowly transition more into in-person learning. If it were up to the students, most of them would choose either completely online classes or completely in-person classes.

According to Education Week, “some schools have set aside the bulk of slots for in-person instruction for vulnerable groups like students with special needs, English-language learners, and students experiencing homelessness.” In this case, while hybrid classes are not ideal for some

students, it allows students who need in-person learning to receive it.

This past year at Spring Hill, students have been able to take both online and hybrid classes. First semester on the Hill, it was rare for a student to have a completely in person class. Senior Patrick O’Connor says “online classes helped me learn time management without having a routine schedule but lost touch and focus on a classroom environment.” While online classes can be beneficial, the social aspect of in-person learning was lost this year. Second semester on the Hill there were less Covid cases and more in-person classes were offered. This helped many students feel like they had a community on campus again.

While attending Spring Hill College this past year there has been a lot of changes. All of the students

went from fully in-person classes to now having no set schedule at all. This has been a very hard transition for many of the students here. I personally would rather have either all online classes or all in-person classes just so I could have a set schedule. With mixing hybrid and online classes it became difficult to manage time.

Though I understand why Spring Hill had to have online and hybrid classes, I feel like I lost touch with a lot of people because of this. The people I would see on a normal day basis in class, I would rarely see anymore. I am very hopeful that next year in-person classes return so the connections I have made in the past three years continue on for my final year here.

Will Athletics Return to Normal Fall 2021?

Maddie Kurcab Columnist Sacha Ducreux Columnist

Since school started again back in August, most of our sports teams did not have the opportunity to compete for a championship. It is the case for baseball, basketball, soccer and track and field for example.

All that was allowed for the Badgers’ were a few exhibition games with not much on the line: no rankings, no championship tournament… In brief, everything that is exciting about sports was taken away from our sports teams this past year, leaving many athletes “frustrated,” according to A.J. Fell, pitcher for the baseball team.

However, with the

EDITORIAL POLICY:

extensive vaccination campaign that is happening throughout the country, it is legitimate to believe that sports might have a chance to play a regular schedule starting next fall. Indeed, according to the athletic

trainers on campus, getting a COVID-19 vaccine “could help us return to a more normal athletic year in August.” After over a year of practices and friendly games only, our teams might finally see the end of the tunnel and finally get a taste of true competition again.

Although it is still too early for the athletics institutions to pronounce an official plan to return to full schedule competition next fall, I think we can be pretty confident that it will happen for several reasons.

The first one is that, on campus, only 38 COVID-19 cases have been counted since Jan. 19 of this year, according to SHC.edu with only one of those cases detected in April. Those numbers clearly show that the number of cases on

The SpringHillian is published five times each semester from January to April. 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.

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campus significantly drops which can only be positive regarding the return to competition for our sports teams in the fall.

Moreover, the intensive testing protocols athletes and other campus members have to go through make it very unlikely that a new cluster will develop on campus. Every athlete of every team has to be tested before and after every game, which highly reduces the chances of spreading the virus in case anyone in the team tests positive.

The last reason that pushes me to think that athletics teams will return to a full schedule competition next fall is the important number of people who are being vaccinated throughout the country.

According to the CDC, over 85 million Americans were fully vaccinated on April 19 which is about 25% of the U.S. population.

Despite a return to full competition, I do not think sports will be back the way they used to be just yet. In other words, I think there will still be restrictions regarding the attendance of sporting events. For a bit longer, our athletes will have to deal with empty or partially filled stands.

Nonetheless, nothing sounds better than a return to true competition and I am convinced that the Badgers will be back to full action...and they will be back hungrier than ever.

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. Submissions may also be sent as emailed attachments to: shcmedia@email.shc.edu.

AROUND THE HILL

SHAPe Staff and Retreatants. Photo by: Colleen Lee

Above: Emily Alonzo, Betsy Blumenfeld, Ellen Martin, Abie Hebert, Chris Daffin, Taylor Empson, Brooke Evans, Lucia Reyes, Jose Chavarria, & Eleanor Grindinger at SHAPe. Photo by: Madeline Ortego

Above: Tau Kappa Epsilon , the second place team.

Above: Delta Chi, the winners of Anchor Splash.

Above: Thomas Prados, Hallie Matherne, Becca Howard, Kayla Keller, Daria Lundberg, Vivi Milian, & Joe Studt Photo by: Madeline Ortego

Above: Lauren Walker having fun at Anchor Splash.

Springhill College Student Media Staff. Top Row: Sacha Ducreux, Summer Poole, Laura Delgado, Eleanor Grindinger. Bottom Row: Andrew Jones, Olivia McNorton, Maddie Kurcab, Eduardo Chavarria.

New Org for International Students Launched

Maddie Kurcab Reporter

The International Students Association is the newest student organization on campus and was started by Zain Hernandez.

It is an association for foreign students to share their different cultures, socialize with other foreign students, help each other with practical sources and have a community on campus while being far away from home.

Hernandez started the International Students Association (ISA) for the purpose of giving foreign students a community to lean on while being homesick.

Hernandez said, “I’ve always been a person who has been proud of being an International Student from Belize, and throughout my time here at Spring Hill I’ve also enjoyed learning about

other student’s different cultures.”

“It’s this experience that motivated me to start a club where we can promote this diversity and create a space where we get to have fun as we learn about this diversity that is present amongst us,” Hernandez added.

“I also remember my first years at Spring Hill College where it was a bit hard to adapt as I had never been to the United States before and especially not to a college like Spring Hill. This was another one of my motivations for the club as I believe that the International Student Association can help international students to easily integrate into the campus community.”

This association provides foreign students with resources such as Curricular Practical Training (CTP) which is permission to work and maintain a driver’s li-

cense. Foreign students are not allowed to work in America without a social security card, ISA helps students find the resources to work.

Ferguson O’Rourke says that ISA changed his life.

“I was able to stay in America

over the summer and work. I gained a source of independence through one of ISA’s resources, Curricular Practical Training. This helped me receive a social security card and helped me work throughout the summer. I

was working at a job that was related to my major.”

This student organization also holds on-campus activities as a way for students to get involved. ISA holds mixers that include foreign activities so that people could meet each other. This is also a way for foreign exchange students to bring their culture on to Spring Hills’ campus.

According to statistics generated by SHC’s Office of Institutional Research, 52 of the college’s nearly 1,200 students are international students.

The ISA has partnered with Spring Hill dining to do “around the world meals” every two weeks. So far, the countries that have been represented are Germany, Belize and France. On April 20, the next country that will be featured is Venezuela. For more information, contact isa@shc.edu.

Student Athletes Lead Advisory Committee

Caroline Landaiche Reporter

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is a group of student-athletes associated with the NCAA that aims to assist student-athletes.

According to NCAA. org, “the mission of the National Student-Athlete Advisory Committees is to enhance the total student-athlete experience by promoting opportunity, protecting student-athlete welfare and fostering a positive student-athlete image.”

SAAC is relatively new to SHC and many students are working to re-establish the committee. Caroline Weisinger, a member of the Spring Hill College cross country and track teams, is a student representative on SAAC at SHC.

Weisinger says “In SAAC, there are two representatives from each sports

team, two people appointed by either the coach or team members. These two members work together with the other members and their respective sports teams to

come up with solutions and scenarios in which can better the athletic department we a whole.”

The hope of SAAC at Spring Hill is for athletes

to have an avenue “to voice their concerns, ideas, and thoughts to,” according to Weisinger.

The members want to serve as an in-between for

the athletes and the athletic department in order to have more streamlined and effective communication.

When asked why she joined SAAC, Weisinger said “I got involved in SAAC because I genuinely care for my team, for Spring Hill, and its image. We are such a spirited school and take pride in all that we do and so, why not try to help in advocating for not just a better school but a better athletic department as a whole.”

Weisinger added, “I can say the people I work alongside have such great ideas and such passion that it’s more of a question of why wouldn’t I want to get involved with SAAC? It is a great way to make a difference for the people you care about.”

SAAC serves as a forum for Spring Hill’s athletic teams to collaborate and share ideas while generating school spirit.

Student-Athlete Advisory Committee members

SHC Beach Celebrates Runner-Up National Finish

Summer Poole Reporter

Spring Hill College’s beach volleyball program is celebrating a national runner-up finish in last weekend’s American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Small College National Championships.

The Lady Badgers brought a No. 2 seeding into the event, played in Tavares, Florida, and rattled off five wins before dropping a three-game match to the University of Tampa Spartans in the championship.

Twelve teams competed in the championship tournament. Along with SHC and Tampa, participants included: Palm Beach Atlantic, Texas A&M Kingsville, Saint Leo, Colorado Mesa, Carson Newman, Tampa #2, Wayne State, Florida Southern, Tusculum and Catawba.

“This means the world to me because the girls have been through so

much just to even have a season,” said SHC beach volleyball coach Amanda Jones. “They have fought through transition, illness, and an insane pandemic to get to this history marking place. I’m so proud to coach them!”

According to the SHC office of sports information, the runner-up finish marks the best showing for SHC in its third appearance at the National Championships. Previously, the Badgers had finished third in 2018 and 2019 with the 2020 event canceled due the NCAA Novel Coronavirus Pandemic Shutdown.

This appearance is just the second time any SHC sport has reached a team National Championship Finals with the Badger softball team reaching the NAIA National Championship game in 2013.

The Badgers reached the title game by sweeping through pool play on Friday and Saturday with a 3-0 mark and then winning a heart-pounding 3-2 decision

in a tie-breaker challenge match versus rivals the Texas A&M-Kingsville (TAMK) Javalinas on Saturday evening to secure a bye in the first

round of bracket play. In the semifinals, SHC defeated the Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBAU) Sailfish 3-2 in another barn-burner finish.

The Badgers finished the season with a record of 18-9, surpassed only by their 20-11 mark in 2019.

After the tournament, the SHC No. 1 Court pair of Kassandra Fairly and Payton Gidney were named to the 2021 AVCA Division II All-America team.

Other members of the squad, according to SHC Athletics website, include: Kyla Shappell, Allison Weimer, Leanne Sorrel, Mary Coye Ward, Brooke Borgmeyer, Ryann Horkavy, Courtney Faulkner, Linnea Beger, Grace Harris, Patty Blood, Natalie Bonner, Valerie Vujnovich, Briley Jane Becker, Sarah Senft, Mikayla Boyer, Calina Corthell, Jessica Fairly, Prisca Garner, Lily Mascari, Kristen Mitternight, Olivia Peyton, Anna Marie Stevens, Natalie Sullivana and Emily Weinzapfel.

Jones is SHC’s head beach volleyball coach, and Peggy Martin is the school’s director of volleyball.

Men’s Soccer Team Searches for a New Head Coach

Andrew Jones Reporter

Spring Hill College is finishing the process of searching for a new head coach for the men’s soccer team after the departure of Head Coach Steve Wieczorek according to Deputy Athletic Director of internal Affairs Chad Leblanc.

This year the SHC men’s soccer team has faced several obstacles from the cancellation of its regular season to the resignation of the head coach this spring. According to Junior defender Hayden Franklin, “Head Coach Steve Wieczorek resigned two weeks prior to the Badgers’ game against their rival: West Florida. That same day two of the players tested positive for COVID which caused the team to be shut down for 10 days.

This left the Badgers with no head coach heading into the big game.” The search has to come to a close. “Interviews were completed last week and a decision on who we would like to offer the position has been made. We are now completing administrative requirements before the candidate can be officially hired and publicly announced,” stated Chad LeBlanc.

The team was affected during this time of not having a coach. Junior Goalkeeper Alessandro Erdelyi said, “It’s not great because having a coach is important to being a successful team. It is important to have a leader and someone you want to follow. Not having a coach can lead people to feel less motivated since they haven’t had a competition and no longer have a coach. I feel

like a competition; however, is more important than not having a coach. For example, when we played our friendly game against West Florida, everybody was motivated in practice to be successful.”

The SHC men’s soccer team has looked to each other for leadership during this difficult time. Erdelyi also stated, “I would say when there is not a supreme leader, in this case a coach,

there are other people such as seniors and captains that step into the role of leadership. The seniors have been doing a great job of keeping people motivated and to keep people together. They understand that it is so important for people to be together during this time. Overall, there have been so many leaders to step up from freshmen to seniors.”

The Badgers have been doing their best to stay together and motivated. Many of the players believe that the team has the talent to be something special with the right coach. Franklin expressed, “Going into my senior season, I hope for an open minded coach who values hard work. We’re a very talented team and I believe with the right coach, we’re unstoppable.” The Badgers are hopeful for the upcoming season with their new head coach.

SHC Beach Volleyball Players- Photo by: Kassandra Fairly

Juan Pablo “Juancho” Herrera on the field- Photo By: Andrew Jones

HILL YEAH!

ON THE SPOT

What are your hopes for SHC in the fall of 2021?

Abby Palopoli

Making new friends at the Italy Center!

Dejia Powell Meeting people without restrictions.

Jake Foster To sit in the cafeteria with my friends.

Jasmine Muñoz To study abroad in Italy!

Macy Heroman Pass the LSAT and get into a good law school.

Thomas Prados Get to meet new people and better opportunities to succeed.