Pius XII Memorial Library was recognized as the 2021 Missouri Library of the Year by the Missouri Library Association.

This award came after 18 months of Pius Library functioning through the COVID-19 pandemic, something that caused many libraries across the state to alter their services and systems. The annual award is “conferred upon any type of Missouri library, library system or library network for distinguished achievement in service,” according to the Missouri Library Association website.

Martha Allen, Assistant Dean of User Services at Pius Library, said that one of the reasons Pius Library received the award was due to their pandemic response.

“We did not close our doors,” Allen said. “Pius Library was open and had the longest open hours of any library in the state of Missouri. And I’m talking public libraries, special libraries, academic libraries, school libraries—we were open longer than anyone else.”

Allen said that along with the hours that it was open, Pius Library was able to continue offering many of its services during the pandemic, which also set Pius apart from other libraries in Missouri.

“We were committed to try and keep the services at a level that was [similar to] normal operating services,” Allen said. “We really did move 800 chairs, 40 sofas, many, many tables. And we did that with the help of distribution and moving services.”

But more than the changes to the physical functions, Pius Library was also recognized for how quickly it adapted to the virtual needs of campus.

“The virtual library is absolutely vital to student success,” Allen said. “And what we quickly realized during the pandemic was that Zoom enabled us to reach students that maybe we have never reached in the past.”

There were many students and faculty members who utilized the virtual aspects of the library as rates of e-book and streaming media checkouts rose drastically, Allen said.

Caitlin Stamm, an archivist in Pius Library, says that these services have always set Pius Library apart, though.

“Before I came to SLU, SLU’s Pius Library had a great reputation for having a great collection,” Stamm said. “When I needed to find things for my patrons, I always knew that if I needed a special book or a theology book…Pius Library always had it and was always willing to help us. And so, I came to SLU with the knowledge of Pius Library—a great library.”

That is a reputation that has been built and tended to since Pius Library first opened in 1959. Before that, the SLU Library was located in what is now the Pere Marquette Gallery in DuBourg Hall, according to John Waide, a former SLU archivist who worked in Pius Library for 47 years.

“I am really just kind of overwhelmed by how many students use the library,” Waide said. “You know during midterms and final exams, you can’t find a seat in the library, and there are a lot of seats in the library, don’t get me wrong. It’s just amazing to me how much use it gets.”

Students and SLU community members do use Pius heavily, especially during the pandemic. According to library headcounts, September 2021 saw over 60,000 guests enter Pius Library. Once they enter, of course, there are plenty of things for them to do.

“I just like the environment of everyone kind of studying, side by side, and it’s like we’re all kind of going through it together,” said Lydia Golden, a senior studying Health Management and Policy.

“What has become very apparent is that the library, as a place, is so important,” Allen said. “The library is a sanctuary to many students, and different types of sanctuaries: a sanctuary for intellectual research, a sanctuary just for calm and peace, a sanctuary for recreational reading, a sanctuary just to get a bagel. You know, where you meet with your friends.”

That was something Allen says they wanted to focus on in their pandemic response, not only a continuation of normalcy.

“I can’t tell you the number of students who have said to me how important it was during the pandemic that the library at least was a slice of normalcy in this chaotic new world that we were living in,” Allen said. “They knew that they could come to the library and feel safe.”

Ultimately, that sense of safety and support is what makes Pius Library what it is, said Allen.

“I just want to say we have such an incredible team here,” Allen said. “We didn’t win the award from one person, one individual person. It was the team that came together to support the needs of the students. And that is thrilling for me to be in an environment that is truly committed to their mission.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:30 a.m. CST on Nov. 30 for clarification and may be updated as new information becomes available. 

The final week of a semester is usually chaotic, but fall 2020 has truly outdone itself. The last weekend of classes saw a flurry of SLU students interacting on Instagram as two SLU-centered accounts came into the limelight: the Gateway Times and the Gayway Times. 

The Gateway Times account, @gatewaytimesslu (later changed to @thegatewaytimes at the request of SGA), described itself as “the Conservative Catholic voice of SLU.” Gateway’s Instagram account and website were created and posted its first photo around 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19. By 10 p.m. that night, the account started being discovered, with one user commenting, “Why u follow me I’m gay?” The Gateway Times ended up publishing three articles and interacted with SLU students in the comment sections of various posts. While Gateway had only a four-day tenure, ending late on Sunday, Nov. 22, with the deletion of the Instagram account and website removal, controversy and chaos struck SLU’s social media community. 

Gateway’s very first publication gave them a great deal of traction. This article, submitted by an anonymous contributor, was a response to UNews staff writer Penelope Gardner and her recent opinion article “Here’s a List of Things to Do Before Amy Coney Barrett Helps Make Them Illegal.” Gardner wrote in her opinion piece that readers should “be gay,” “have reproductive freedom,” and “remember what it’s like to have a competent president,” before the Supreme Court justice takes office.

The Gateway Times responded to Gardner’s article with their take: “Here’s a List of Things to Never Do Because They’re Mortal Sins: A Response to Penelope Gardner.” The article briefly criticized Gardner’s article, listed “Have Abortions, Have a Vasectomy (especially as an 18 to 20-something year old young man” as the “things you should never do, because they are mortal sins,” then republished two comments on Gardner’s original article. 

The article used terms like “immoral practice” and “sinful habit” to describe queer sexuality, soon causing stir within the SLU community, and prompting the creation of a few other Instagram accounts. First, there were accounts created with similar names to the Gateway Times, created to parody the original through their posts and comments.

Common critiques from the Instagram community included that the article—as well as the Gateway account and website—did not have an author’s name. In response to the criticism, Gateway posted an editor’s note expressing that the “article was contributed by a SLU community member” and that Gateway “does not refuse to publish and will not alter articles on the basis of viewpoint disagreement or inaccuracy.” Gateway also added a name to the article, Kathryn Marie, but the UNews found evidence that the actual name attached to the writer’s account was more likely Kaitlyn Marie.

Ultimately, the most popular account created in response to the Gateway Times was “The Gayway Times,” which quickly amassed over 400 followers.

The creator of the Gayway Times, who remains anonymous, tells the UNews that “I was sent [the account for The Gateway Times] by a friend and was instantly repulsed. I had already come into contact with a lot of bigotry on campus, so I was not really surprised. I came up with the idea on Friday and started it because I thought it would be fun to goof on them.”

The Gateway Times deleted their account and website before they could give a comment to the UNews.

Other SLU students that learned about the Gateway Times had strong reactions to the homophobic ideas expressed in the publication. One student was Anna Milburn, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. 

“My initial thoughts of the gateway times was that it was a disgruntled kid at SLU who got angry at Black Lives Matter and the trans awareness that we foster at SLU, but I saw more and more Trump and conservative accounts following them and it felt like a direct attack on SLU students,” says Milburn.

Ben Young, a sophomore in Parks College, interacted with the Gateway Times via direct message on Instagram.

“I sent them a message saying I believed this was homophobic, and their response was that they ‘were not afraid of gay people.’ This lead me to direct message the page in which I explained how I believed their posts were homophobic.”

Young says he also “tried to facilitate a conversation” with the Gateway Times.

“Their response was the Wikipedia article about the Bible and homosexuality. At this point, I was quite annoyed that this was their ‘defense,’ and I saw a post on their story about how they ‘fact checked me.’ So, I responded with numerous articles from varying denominations talking about how scripture tells us to love and accept gay people.”

“I received no response,” says Young.

The University News reached out to a few of the Gateway Times’ followers in hopes of finding the person behind the page. One student who followed the account on Instagram and who wishes to remain anonymous told the UNews that “most likely it is a student who wanted to make their voice heard, for better or worse.”

The Gayway Times made it their mission to satirize articles and posts made by the Gateway Times. One such post included a photo of Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness superimposed over a photo of Moses from the first Gateway Times post about Gardner’s article. 

Another Gateway Times post questioning whether SLU should fire President Fred Pestello was satirized by the Gayway Times, which replaced the pictures of Fred Pestello with photos of Miranda Cosgrove. 

Milburn says she “decided to become active in making sure they [Gateway Times] knew queer SLU students wouldn’t tolerate it. When the @gaywaytimes first came about I was so excited to see more people coming together as a community to stop bigotry.”

There are also a handful of SLU students who initially took the side of the Gateway Times over the Gayway Times before the Gateway comments became more aggressive and extreme, such as Nicholas Baker, a sophomore student in the Business School.

When interacting with the account, Baker says he was “criticizing The Gayway Times for their logo in which the cross is flipped upside down… I believe the intent of the logo’s design was disrespectful. They also recently uploaded a drag queen’s face pasted over Christ’s image, which absolutely crosses the line. While we should all be respectful of our individual differences, we should also respect the common values that drew us to this Jesuit school.” Baker acknowledged that the views expressed by Gateway don’t necessarily represent those of all conservative students at SLU.

“It was also awful to hear that students were basically saying that LGBTQ+ people should only come to SLU if they expect to follow/live by what the Catholic Church teaches. LGBTQ+ people and non-Catholic [students] belong at SLU,” says Joe Reyes, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Before their account shut down, the Gateway Times sent a cease and desist letter to the Gayway Times, accusing the account of plagiarism. The Gateway Times alleged that Gayway was unlawfully using their logo and content and threatened court action by their lawyer. The final version of the cease and desist letter included a signature of the Gateway Editor-in-chief, whose name apparently began with a J.

“I doubt they have a lawyer, and don’t know what they will do going forward,” says Baker.

Before the Gateway account was deleted at 11 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 22, they posted a story with the test “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” regarding two photos with LGBTQ+ people.

In considering why the Gateway Times deleted its account, an anonymous student who followed the Gateway Times says, “my best guess is that the creator(s) took it down because it created more backlash than they anticipated. Alternatively, SLU themselves could have made contact with the account asking them to take it down, since it is not a SLU-affiliated service.”

While many students who support the Gayway Times are pleased that the Gateway account was deleted, they still call for action against the people who originally made the homophobic posts, as well as to better support LGBTQIA+ students at SLU.

“There is obviously a substantial, vocal community at SLU that spews this hate-filled speech. I think it is important to call out this hate when we see it and hold those who create it accountable,” the Gayway Times tells the UNews.

In reference to the J signature on the cease and desist letter: Who was behind the Gateway Times SLU account? 

“SLU needs to do a better job of making those who feel marginalized, especially LBGT folks, at home here. Give more resources to queer students, hold the Catholic Studies Center accountable for their homophobic rhetoric and make sure that hatred cannot be fostered on campus,” the Gayway Times also said.

Reyes believes the SLU community should take an active stance in fighting homophobia: “I think that the Catholic Studies Center and its students also need to get out of its bubble and stop hiding in the shadows and actually engaging in dialogue with other students, and they need to be open to learning different perspectives and experiences. I keep hearing the old trope that their beliefs are being attacked and all of that, but they do nothing to actually defend their beliefs besides hiding behind anonymous accounts and all of that.”

“I believe the broader SLU community definitely needs to have a broader conversation on how LGBT people are treated on campus, just as we did with how those of color are treated on campus. Around campus I have been verbally abused and called slurs while walking to get food or coming home from work, and we as a community need to address these issues and work together to create a positive environment for all students,” says Young.  

Milburn agrees, and the sequence of events has made her hopeful.

“Going forward I hope all of this reminds the SLU community, especially the queer community here that were a very strong minded group of people and we don’t tolerate hatred and bigotry. I do think the whole SLU community should reflect on this and remember to spread love for our minority communities and uplift the voices of non white cis het folks who make this Jesuit institution so much stronger,” Milburn tells the UNews.

Even though the Gateway Times has deleted their original account and website, The Gayway Times has told the UNews that they plan on keeping their account active. While some activity has continued in this time, it’s unclear at this point whether or not the original Gateway account has been revived as new accounts like @gatewaytimes_2.0, since the account remained anonymous throughout its existence. 

The UNews is in the process of investigating this, and many SLU students want accountability in their community. If you have any information, please contact the UNews on our Instagram, Twitter or Facebook accounts.

The mural in the Grand Hall lobby was taken down recently by SLU Housing and Residence Life. This change comes as many SLU departments revisit decisions related to representation on campus.

Since the opening of Grand Hall in 2017, the lobby has been home to a mural, or wall skin, that featured the faces of student staff members within the SLU Housing and Residence Life department, most being Resident Advisors. Many community members have long considered this decoration to be an untrue representation of SLU. With recent changes at the university as well as a newfound conversation surrounding representation, equity and inclusion, the fate of the mural was decided.

This wall skin has decorated the Grand Hall lobby for nearly three years, so this begs the question: why now? 

“The decision to remove the wall skin was in direct support and solidarity with those whose image was used and those who voiced concern,” says Manisha Ford-Thomas, director of Housing and Residence Life. “Thanks to leadership changes in the department and at the University, HRL was empowered to remove the image.”

According to Fiona Murray, a desk worker in Grand Hall, it happened quite quickly. A maintenance person showed up one day and started taking it down during Murray’s shift.

Many believe the removal of the wall skin is not only a positive change within the department, but within the larger SLU community as well. During the three years that the wall skin has been up, multiple students have used their voices to initiate change. 

Faith Nixon, co-chair of the Diversity Leadership Cabinet within SGA, is one of those voices. “I am so thankful that the mural was taken down. This summer I was a summer RA, and I brought up the Black at SLU instagram page during our staff meeting. I informed the HRL leadership of the opinions and how I agreed with the opinions. I suggested that the mural be taken down immediately, I am glad that they listened and took our suggestions.”

This change comes in stride with recent movements on campus that address historically racial and inequitable aspects of the university: with the Breonna Taylor memorial at the Clock Tower, as well as the student protest that stopped traffic on Grand Avenue on Sept. 25.

“This is only the tip of the iceberg of changes that SLU needs to make. However, it is nice to know that SLU’s administration is listening and taking action,” says Nixon.

As the SLU community and Housing and Residence Life department move forward, Ford-Thomas says that “HRL staff will work to ensure residential students can provide their opinions on the images or information that should appear on the elevator bank.”

The wall is currently blank, but Beatrice Beirne, desk manager of Grand Hall, has put up a makeshift memorial to Breonna Taylor in the meantime.

Who will tell your story? Unless you plan on writing down every single detail of your life in permanent ink, the facts, the motives and the perceptions of your life will probably be misconstrued. Joan of Arc was just a teenager when she was burned at the stake for being a witch, among other crimes. Who’s telling her story now? How do we remember her? The SLU theatre production of “Saint Joan of Arc” was recently staged by Lucy Cashion, a theatre professor at SLU, and she made sure to get the story right.

“We couldn’t find a Joan that we liked until we got to Shakespeare really,” said Cashion. And that’s understandable. Many versions of Joan of Arc’s story were written by old men, which is one of the reasons Cashion decided to craft a devised production of Joan’s story.”

A devised production is one where there is no official script to go off of, mainly using a combination of preexisting material and original ideas to create something entirely new and unique. Cashion, the cast, and a program named Prison Performing Arts came together to create a show in which they could construe the facts, motives and perceptions of Joan of Arc.  

Devising a work takes a lot of effort and research, but Cashion said what makes the process so enlightening is that “everyone is in on this game of taking apart ‘why do we think this way about this?’ and ‘what does this mean about us?’” 

Those were the questions that everyone involved in “Saint Joan of Arc” was able to answer. The production was devised not only by SLU theatre students, but included help from incarcerated women at the Vandalia Correctional Center through the Prison Performing Arts program, a St. Louis-based program that helps incarcerated people get involved with theatre. 

Through everyone’s effort, Cashion styled the regularly medieval Joan into the likes of a heavy metal and goth frame. This Joan of Arc wore a beanie and listened to hard rock. And in this process of devising, everyone was able to examine the story of Joan and how that story has been told since the 15th century.

“When making art, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done in your past, it doesn’t even matter necessarily if you’re incarcerated or if you’re getting your degree in prison … your ideas can have any kind of value,” said Cashion.

In order to develop the production, Cashion and others traveled to the Vandalia Correctional Center to write, learn and create for “Saint Joan of Arc.” This provides a unique look at the narrative of the French girl who was burned at the stake for witchcraft.

Cashion said, “There were a lot of things that the women working with PPA were able to relate to and point out about her [Joan’s] story that I didn’t even notice.”

Those perspectives of the creators are what set a devised performance like this one apart from a production whose scenes were written centuries ago. Misrepresentation, perspective and movement through an unfair world are all points of a theme that examines the telling of narrative. Maybe that’s why this Joan wasn’t construed as a traitor or as a liar, but as a woman who trusted her instincts and was burned for it. She wasn’t perfect, but she did navigate an environment where everyone was against her. That is how she managed her narrative, and that is why Cashion’s adaptation of “Saint Joan of Arc” added to the conversation about the life of a saint.

Reports of food poisoning have arisen from multiple SLU students after eating at the Jimmy John’s on Laclede Avenue. This was accompanied by a closure of the establishment by the St. Louis City Health Department.

Jimmy John’s, the sandwich shop located on Laclede Avenue across from the Vandeventer soccer fields, is one of the few off-campus dining options for SLU students within walking distance. That is, until multiple students became ill shortly after eating at the sandwich shop, some even being hospitalized.

“I will never eat Jimmy John’s again in my life,” says Nandini Fonseca, a sophomore international business student. Fonseca claims to have gotten sick on Jan. 19, the day after eating a Jimmy John’s tuna sandwich.

Fonseca fell ill after attending a campus retreat for a SLU organization that was catered by Jimmy John’s. Following the retreat, Fonseca claims she “couldn’t even open a gatorade bottle.” 

This account is similar to fourteen other students who attended the retreat, such as Baker Mitchell, a junior business student. “From 7 p.m. on Sunday until about 11:30 p.m. on Sunday I threw up twelve times,” claims Mitchell.

Eventually, Mitchell’s roommate had to take him to the emergency room, and he was hospitalized on the evening of Jan. 19 along with another student who attended the retreat.

One week later, during the weekend of Jan. 25, the Jimmy John’s on Laclede Avenue was shut down. A City of St. Louis Health Department sign was soon posted on the door claiming an “Order of Cessation” for the restaurant. 

The Health Department sign was soon taken down that weekend and replaced with a Jimmy John’s sign, this one apologizing for being closed due to a “water main break.”

Jeff Lewis, manager of the Jimmy John’s on Laclede Avenue, repeated this claim, telling the University News that Jimmy John’s was shut down due to a water main break in the restaurant. Lewis stated the water main break did not affect the quality of food at that time, and he especially pointed out that the City Health Department sign was only posted to make the water main break “official.”

However, Kim Vanden Berg, Public Information Officer for the Department of Health, stated that the restaurant was closed because they “received complaints of persons experiencing gastrointestinal illness following dining from the establishment.” The City Health Department says that Jimmy John’s was able to reopen “after it was determined there was no risk to the public.”

With the “water main break” now fixed and all students from the retreat now healthy, it is unlikely that the SLU community will know what exactly caused the illness.

“Cheer” on Netflix gives viewers the chance to tumble, chant and stunt alongside the cheer team of Navarro Community College in a journey that fosters trust, self-respect and faith.

I love a good documentary, but documentaries usually don’t involve character development in the plot. World War II documentaries are a go-to for me, but they’re merely repeating facts. Watching “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” (a documentary in its own way) is how I sometimes spend my free time, but it’s mainly just spectacle and drink-throwing. “Cheer,” on the other hand, cuts all the scrap away so that we can witness the toppling, intense and resilient Navarro cheerleaders.

The series follows the entire Navarro cheer team as it prepares for the 2019 National Cheer Championship in Daytona, Florida. But it also dives into the backstory of a select few team members. This short article cannot even begin to represent the emotional range and variety of personalities that are shown during the six-episode series. Each team member featured has a nuanced story and a unique energy that they bring to the team. What allows this mix of people to be successful, though, is their head coach, Monica Aldama. Aldama has won multiple national championships during her time as head coach at Navarro, but, of course, that doesn’t make the 2019 competition season any easier.

Aldama handles every hurdle with grace and compassion. Jumping over cyberbullying, broken families, toxic attitudes and a diabolical human pyramid, Aldama shows us how she functions in her natural habitat. Each student on the team gives us a lense through which to view her leadership. Is she angry at you because you are cutting yourself and the team short? Is she checking in on you and your situation at home? Maybe she takes you to the side to see how comfortable you are with learning a full routine in half an hour? She trusts her students, and she expects them to trust themselves as well. Through “Cheer,” we can see the strong program she has established at Navarro College and how it has benefited everyone who has been involved with it.

This actually made me thankful for the Monica Aldamas in my life. We all have them. Throughout the series, I witnessed a woman mold and craft unsteady teenagers into people who could strive for more than what they had. I couldn’t help but see parallels between myself and some of the cheerleaders. The Monica Aldama in my life has taught me similar lessons to those portrayed throughout the series: trust in those around you, forgive those working against you and have faith in your own abilities.

I like to think that we can all imagine ourselves as one of these first-class athletes. It’s hard not to do so when “Cheer” gives such a precise and vulnerable look into their lives. Being a shaky and moldable teenager, after all, is not too far from my current situation, although I would like to point out that I am NOT currently preparing for a national championship in Daytona, Florida. But for these cheerleaders, this is a formative time of their life. Hopefully in watching this series, you will also come to gain trust, forgiveness and faith—just like a Navarro Cheerleader does.

One of my favorite books growing up was “Strega Nona,” the story of an Italian witch who owns a magic pasta-making cauldron. Only the “strega”—the Italian word for witch—has the ability to use the magic cauldron. This is a lesson that her helper, Big Anthony, learns too well when he tries to make pasta and ends up flooding the town with fettuccini. 

I’ve always been a Big Anthony in the kitchen. Even this last holiday season, I tried to make peanut clusters without my mom’s supervision and  burnt the chocolate to create bitter ashy peanut blobs. But one thing my grandma gave me for Christmas was a cookbook. I had asked for it because I wanted to become a strega in the kitchen rather than a Big Anthony.

While the lack of an oven or a stove in the Fusz kitchen has limited my cooking opportunities, I have a friend who was more than happy to show me how to make pasta from scratch. Using her kitchen, we were able to create a dinner of farfalle (bowties) and linguini (thick spaghetti). Here’s how we did it:

1. Mix! We were able to do the iconic egg-in-a-pile-of-flour technique that is seen in the movies! After creating a bowl shape with our flour, we filled it with egg. Through mixing, we slowly incorporated the flour, and over time, the flour bowl disappeared. By the time the flour was all incorporated, we had a large moist blob of dough.
2. Rest! We wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and let it sit for around 20 minutes. This let the dough thicken and strengthen for the next step. We made a salad during the wait so that we’d have an appetizer.
3. Roll! This is the fun part, but it also required the most work. My friend told me that the dough should be “thin enough to read a newspaper through,” which seemed a little ambitious to me at first since it’s, like, dough. But we did it! If your wooden rolling pin malfunctions like ours did, feel free to use a glass bottle. And use plenty of flour throughout the rolling process.
4. Cut! This was also a fun part because it’s when the pasta actually forms. Once your dough is rolled all the way out use a sharp knife to cut the pasta. To make farfalle, cut out squares and use your thumb, index finger and middle finger to cinch the middle of the square. To make linguini, just cut in long straight lines.
5. Boil! It may seem weird to put raw dough in boiling water, but the fresh dough actually allows it to have a cook time of about three minutes (at least with our recipe). To know when it’s done, take a piece out and bite it. If it has a noodle texture on the outside but it’s still doughy on the inside, then you have cooked it to “al dente,” which is the perfect amount of cooking for pasta. I am still not an expert on how to sense this just by biting it, but my friend who has made this multiple times has the hang of it. Must be a strega thing…
6. Eat! Now this is by far the most fun part. We happened to make a homemade pesto sauce, but if you don’t do that, then store bought is fine as well.

Every recipe has its own unique additions to this process (ours called for a special type of flour), but I think the general process is just as interesting to learn. I am still by no means a Strega Nona in the kitchen. But, thankfully, I was still able to witness a magic pasta cauldron (kind of) in the company of friends. And that, I will say, was the most fun of all.