Con Man: Frank Abagnale recounting the lessons he learned as a young man.
Wolf Howard / News Editor

On Tuesday evening, Saint Louis University students listened to one of the world’s most famous con artists recount his story of regret and redemption. Hosted by the Great Issues Committee, guest speaker Frank Abagnale spoke to students on his past life as a criminal and his journey towards finding fulfillment as a government security consultant.

The evening started off with a clip from the movie “Catch Me If You Can,” a film directed by Steven Spielberg that stars actor Leonardo Dicaprio as Abagnale and tells Abagnale’s life story of crime and restitution. Students applauded Abagnale onto stage, who began a swift and smooth narration of his life story and of the life lessons he has learned.

At the age of 16 and living in New York, Abagnale was exposed to the trauma of his parent’s divorce. After being blindsided by the situation and pressured to choose which parent to live with, Abagnale ran away and began his struggles as an independent. Having only received education through 10th grade, he quickly learned that he couldn’t make ends meet without some sort of improvising, and so started his life as a con artist.

“At 16 I was six-foot tall, I’ve always had a little grey hair…so I decided to lie about my age,” said Abagnale. He began telling people he was 26 and found that even this did little to increase his income, so when his money ran out and he began writing bad checks, Abagnale started relying on his charm to keep the money coming.

“Years later reporters would write and speculate that it was my upbringing, mannerism…appearance,” said Abagnale. “Whatever it was, it was easy.”

Through the use of clever techniques and a charming personality, Abagnale was able to spend the next five years of his life posing as an airline pilot, a pediatrician, an attorney and a college professor. It is calculated that he flew over 1 million miles for free and cashed $2.5 million in fraudulent checks in every state and 26 foreign countries.

“I did a lot of things that had never been done before so they got a lot of attention,” said Abagnale.

At age 21, Abagnale was arrested by French police and served time in French, Swedish and American prison systems. A U.S. federal judge had sentenced Abagnale to 12 years in prison, but after serving four he was offered a position to work for the federal government. Abagnale has since spent over 36 years working with the FBI as a respected authority on forgery, embezzlement and secure documents.

“I always knew I would get caught – only a fool would think otherwise,” said Abagnale. “The law sometimes sleeps, but the law never dies.”

Abagnale stressed to students the reality of the crimes he had committed and how unglamorous his life had been. Contrary to the film, he never saw his father again after running away and didn’t speak to his mother until seven years later. He would send postcards home so that his family knew that he was still alive, but Abagnale spent every holiday and birthday alone and regrets the crimes that he committed.

“I’m here to tell you tonight, life is not short,” said Abagnale. “When you mistreat someone…you have to live with that for the rest of your life…it becomes a burden that you carry with you.”

Abagnale encouraged students to think before they act and practice good ethics in their everyday lives, so that they would not have to carry the same burdens in their lives that he does in his.

Jessica Winter / Associate News Editor

SLU instructor on active lifestyle and working towards social justice

For Matthew Mahaffey, providing inspiration for others is a daily task. From his position as a child advocacy attorney to his work as a spinning instructor, Mahaffey works towards helping people in various aspects of their lives and is seemingly never short of motivation.

Born in Montezuma, Iowa, Mahaffey started out his college education as a classical languages major at Hope College in west Michigan. After marrying and working as a youth minister for three years Mahaffey and his wife moved to St. Louis in order to pursue masters degrees in social work at Washington University. Mahaffey began practicing social work shortly afterwards at a youth employment program called Urban Strategies in northern St. Louis. Here he worked with fifteen youth that would eventually inspire him to become an attorney.

“They were great kids…very inquisitive,” said Mahaffey. The children that he worked with always had questions for him about the juvenile court system and Mahaffey’s desire to provide these kids with answers led him to pursue a law degree at Saint Louis University.

After starting out his law career in criminal defense court cases, Mahaffey began looking for a transition into a more family-friendly job. Being a father of two, he found a suitable fit working as a child advocacy attorney for the nonprofit organization Voices for Children.

“[We] represent children’s best interests who are in the foster care system,” said Mahaffey. He remarked on feeling lucky to have found such a fulfilling job. “I have been very fortunate in my professional life to work for organizations that I have both enjoyed the work and had a good time doing it as well,” Mahaffey said.

Today, Mahaffey stays in touch with SLU through morning spinning classes that he instructs at the Simon Recreation Center. Having always led a very active lifestyle, he picked up biking shortly after moving to St. Louis as he wanted to supplement his running routine with another activity. Mahaffey combined this newfound passion for biking with the free time that graduate school allowed for and became a certified spinning instructor at Washington University. He relocated these classes to the SLU Rec Center shortly after starting law school at SLU and has been an instructor at the university ever since.

“I’ve enjoyed teaching here…it’s a nice part of my day,” said Mahaffey. Using his history as a recreational biker, Mahaffey bases his classes off of the workouts that he would do outside on his road bike. He engages the class by creating a themed music playlist for each workout and encourages participants to send him music requests for the different themes.

“It’s their class, it’s not mine, so I’m trying to make it as enjoyable for them as possible,” Mahaffey said. “I kind of view it as a challenge.”

When he’s not motivating people through spinning classes or fighting for social justice, Mahaffey plays in a bluegrass band called Floyd and the Barbers and enjoys participating in his church and spending time in nature. Above all, he loves spending time with his family and teaching his children the importance of giving back – a gratification that he finds in his work.

“My passions are… with trying to use the privileges I have been given to create more equality of opportunity for people,” said Mahaffey. “…It’s never about one person. Anytime something is accomplished for a child in foster care, credit can never be given to one individual…it takes a village.”

Oppression Monopoly: Students play Monopoly with a twist as part of Oath Week.
Wolf Howard / Photo Editor

Student group aims to expand influence on campus

This week marked an important time for Saint Louis University’s Diversity Leadership Cabinet (DLC) as the student organization hosted its second annual Oath Week. The week offered the group an opportunity to promote its purpose as well as to raise the community’s awareness on SLU’s Oath of Inclusion and how people can carry out the oath in their everyday lives.

The Oath of Inclusion was established in 2010 as a response to several bias incidents that occurred at SLU, and as a way to help unite the community and promote inclusion. It is a student creed that declares an expectation from all SLU students to be inclusive and accepting of diversity at the university. Shortly after the establishment of the creed, SGA created a collaborative committee known today as DLC so that students might have a place to voice their concerns and people to advocate for them when such diversity issues arise.

“DLC was established [with the purpose of] giving voice to students that felt like they didn’t belong at those tables of higher power,” said Amelia Romo, vice president of diversity and social justice.

Initially a small group of three or four students, DLC has now grown to a delegation of about 43 members and includes senators, delegates at large and chartered student organizations (CSO) representatives. It includes cultural organizations such as the Black Student Alliance, Hispanic American Leadership Organization, Indian Student Association and Muslim Student Association.

“It’s constantly changing,” said Romo. “We’re always looking to add seats…we’re trying to come up with some ways that we can present and propose some sort of recruiting and retention efforts so that we have way more students from racial and ethnically diverse backgrounds [here at SLU].”

This week DLC was able to celebrate these diverse backgrounds through Oath Week, which includes a variety of events that challenge people to think critically about how society views differences. The events are hosted by student groups as well as departments and include everything from dialogues to game nights. One of the most popular events has been a “Reclaiming Me” photo campaign, in which students are pictured next to quotes about a particular identity that they claim.

“I wish more faculty would have gotten involved to be honest,” said first-year student Jonathan Pulphus.

A few DLC students have expressed frustration at the lack of assistance from the SLU administration. The student group is currently working with the Diversity Affairs Committee at Washington University to generate new ideas for the group.

“I want to make DLC as important and advertised as something like Greek Life,” said future Vice President of Diversity and Social Justice Mika Romo. She hopes to work closely with the administration in the future to promote DLC and to raise the enrollment rates of students from different cultural background at the university.

“[DLC] gives students…from social oppressed identities a voice on campus,” said Mika. “It enriches the community because their voices are voices that a lot of people have never really heard before.”

Welcoming party: Pestello speaks with students on the med campus during one of the presidential receptions.
John Schuler / Photo Editor

Saint Louis University announced Dr. Fred P. Pestello as its next president at a reception on Friday, March 21. The SLU Board of Trustees had a special meeting Thursday evening to elect Pestello for SLU’s 33rd president, according to Board of Trustees President J. Joe Adorjan.

“It’s been a terrific day,” stated Pestello on Friday. “I’m just impressed by the genuine warmth of people here…and the enthusiasm that everybody seems to have for SLU.”

Pestello, the current president of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., will assume the presidential position on July 1, 2014. He has been serving as president of Le Moyne College since 2008 and has also served as a faculty member and provost at the University of Dayton. He is a Jesuit-educated, sociology scholar and a Roman Catholic who has spent his 30-year career in Catholic higher education. Pestello will be the first lay president to ever serve at SLU.

At Friday’s announcement, Adorjan touched on some of the many reasons why the Board of Trustees Search Committee found Pestello to be the best choice for SLU’s next president. He remarked on Pestello’s results-oriented mindset, ability to collaborate, outstanding communication skills and his interest in shared government systems.

Pestello first greeted the SLU community by introducing his family and saying how humbled and honored he is to accept the presidential position.

“If you know this institution, its importance, its mission and its success, how could I not be humbled and honored to be here?” he said.

The new president said that he has been closely following SLU throughout his years, as he sees the university as a fierce competitor. He commented on being impressed with the search committee and everything that he has seen thus far at SLU, including people’s inspirational attitudes about the future. When regarding his own plans for SLU, Pestello announced having high aspirations of his own.

“My goals are to continue the excellent trajectory that this fine Jesuit research university has been on,” Pestello stated. “I want to continue to work with the community to keep SLU a premiere Jesuit research university that educates students as whole persons.”

Pestello finds SLU to be well positioned for success, as long as the community can work together. He remarked on first needing to get to know the SLU community so that he can then bring the community together to collectively decide what the future of SLU should look like.

“I think the first part is to transition and begin to understand the institution,” said Pestello. “I’m coming in as one person to an institution with a 200-year history…I understand the charism, what I now need to understand a little more deeply is SLU.”

Having come from a Jesuit-educated background and being the current president at a Jesuit institution, the new president assures that he is familiar with the mission that is grounded in the Catholic and Jesuit interests.

What he wishes to explore, however, is how SLU can continue to build and adapt to the times in a manner that allows the mission to be lived out and students to be adequately prepared for the future. He expressed avid interest in open communication with the students and entire SLU community, and he met with the Student Government Association to begin a cultivation of a hopeful and healthy student relationship.

Pestello said that he is most looking forward to meeting people and adapting to the community, but that he seeks the help of the entire community in this transition and the future success of the university.

“I am fallible,” said Pestello. “I am but one person…there is nothing I can do alone.”

An introduction: Pestello sharing a few words during his med-campus reception.
John Schuler / Photo Editor

As more incidents ignite controversy, is SLU doing enough?

Briana Kagy / Chief Illustrator

“Saint Louis University has received a report of a bias incident involving a member of the University community.”

These words have been emailed out to the SLU community 13 times this academic school year. Seven of those times being since January, with four of the instances having a current on-going status of investigation. What the words really mean and how many people pay attention to them remains to be seen, as does the amount of bias incidents that never get reported.

SLU defines a bias-related incident as any act or behavior that violates the student conduct code or harassment policy and is motivated by a regard to race, sex, religion, sexual orientation or any other protected classification. All reported incidents go through the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity, which in turn investigates the incident and handles it accordingly.

Last month the office received a particularly alarming incident report in which members of one of SLU’s Panhellenic sororities had taken a photo that portrayed the Mexican culture in a stereotypical light. The photo was found as offensive and to be a perpetuation of the idea of cultures as costumes. It prompted many upset and angry responses from members of the SLU community, including those from the Diversity Leadership Cabinet, the Hispanic-American Leadership Organization and even members of that same sorority.

This incident does not stand alone at the University, however. Twelve other bias-related incidents have occurred since the beginning of the academic year, and many people question the amount of incidents that go unreported – as well as the general lack of concern that they see from the community.

“If you live in this privilege, then why would you have to be concerned about people who are different and people who go through those daily struggles of being different?” said Mikaela Romo, SGA vice president-elect of diversity and social justice. She commented on cultural insensitivity coming from those who are not directly affected by certain issues and therefore do not need to worry about them.

SLU attempts to promote this sensitivity through the incident report log and the bias-related incident alert emails, but there are complaints that the log is too vague and that the emails get ignored by a majority of the community. Michelle Lewis, director of the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity, said that the protocol for these situations is currently being reworked, but that a certain balance must be achieved. Lewis stated that the vagueness of the report log comes from an individual’s right to a certain level of privacy and the need for more investigation into the situation once the community has been alerted.

“At the end of the day, every incident that comes to our attention needs to be addressed,” said Lewis. “What we’re looking at now is: what is the proper mechanism for addressing it?”

She expressed concern for the integrity of the report log, as the documented incidents can include everything from graffiti that was intended to be humorous to an actual targeted attack against a culture. The department is looking for a way to handle each incident with care while not creating immunity to the emails and report log. Educational opportunities, such as an intergroup dialogue course, are being discussed as ways to enhance cultural competence.

“We just need to start educating the masses because it’s hurting people,” stated Black Student Alliance Senator Brittany Kendrick. “Prejudices and thoughts that we tend to develop here at school will follow us into our everyday lives after college.”

Kendrick says that the emails and report log should serve as a reminder to remain conscious of one’s actions and words.

Standing against bias: SLU students at the Billikens Against Bias Incidents sit-in. The protest was inspired by the recently reported incident concerning one of SLU’s sororities.
Photos courtesy of Christopher Martin

Wilmott: The University of Kansas professor discusses his film “Jayhawkers” after the viewing.
Photo by Jessica Winter / Associate News Editor

In the mist of March Madness, Saint Louis University combined the current basketball craze with a little Civil Rights education when it hosted the Kevin Wilmott film “Jayhawkers” in the Center for Global Citizenship Wednesday evening. The independent biopic film focused on former NBA player Wilt Chamberlain’s recruitment to the University of Kansas and the challenges that were presented to him as a black basketball player during the Civil Rights movement.

Wilmott, a film and media studies professor at the University of Kansas, co-wrote and directed “Jayhawkers” after coming to understand the impact that Chamberlain and the team had on the surrounding community and college sports in general.

“When he passed away a lot of stories came out about the integration kind of effect that he had on the city and KU and all of that, and that’s when I kind of found out that there was a real story here that could be a good film,” said Wilmott.

Chamberlain first started playing basketball at the University of Kansas in 1955 and made his debut on their varsity team in 1956 where he set the school record by scoring 52 points in a game. The 7-foot-1 inch player later led the team to the 1957 NCAA title game against North Carolina where they lost in triple overtime by one point. Chamberlain then went on to conquer other obstacles in the basketball world, becoming an NBA player and the only person to score 100 points in a single NBA game.

More astonishing than these accomplishments, though, was the effect that Chamberlain’s success seemingly had on overall society during the time. Highlighting the racism difficulties that the team faced in “Jayhawkers,” Wilmott expressed the opposition that the team faced for their integration. Chamberlain was not the first black player to be drafted onto KU’s basketball team, but his height and success certainly brought attention to the team and college sports integration.

“Being that big and being that good had never existed before,” stated Wilmott. The director discussed how Chamberlain’s fame sparked an interest in the recruitment and training of black players at larger universities, which in turn initiated a culture change for college sports.

“Jayhawkers” also highlighted the team’s journey with their renowned coach Forrest Clare “Phog” Allen and the familial relationships that were fostered amongst the team as they faced the struggles of racism together. The black and white film took about ten years to create, with only about six weeks of actual filming, and appointed current KU basketball player Justin Wesley as the lead character, Chamberlain.

“I think sports is a lot of fun, but sports can also have an amazing effect on society,” said Wilmott. “And I think that’s what this film kind of demonstrates.”

Saint Louis University announced on Friday, March 21that it has named Dr. Fred P. Pestello as its next president. The SLU Board of Trustees held a special meeting Thursday evening to elect Pestello as SLU’s 33rd president, according to Board of Trustees President J. Joe Adorjan.

Pestello, the current president of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., will assume the presidential position on July 1, 2014. He has been serving as president of Le Moyne College since 2008 and has also served as a faculty member and provost at the University of Dayton. He will be the first lay president to ever serve at SLU.

In reference to the SLU men’s basketball win on Thursday evening, Adorjan introduced Pestello as SLU’s new president Friday morning, saying: “We got two victories last night – a new president and a win.” Adorjan touched on some of the many reasons why the Board of Trustees Search Committee found Pestello to be the best choice for SLU’s next president, saying that he is results-oriented, collaborative, an outstanding communicator and interested in shared governments.

Pestello greeted the SLU community by first introducing his family and saying how humbled and honored he is to accept the presidential position.

“If you know this institution, its importance, its mission and its success, how could I not be humbled and honored to be here?” said Pestello.

The new president says that he has been closely following SLU, as he sees the university as a fierce competitor, and talked about how impressed he was with the Search Committee and everything he has seen thus far at SLU. He asked for the SLU community’s help in his transitioning to the new position.

“I am fallible,” said Pestello. “I am but one person…there’s nothing I can do alone.”

Sodexo and Aramark make final cut for food contract

Veronica Lowe / Illustrator

A 12-year partnership between Chartwells foodservice and Saint Louis University will come to an end this June, as SLU looks towards Aramark or Sodexo to satisfy their future culinary needs. The two remaining companies elbowed out Chartwells and Bon Appétit for the position and just underwent site reviews by SLU’s Food Request for Proposal Evaluation Committee.

Site visits included inspection of both local and non-local campuses that are currently being managed by the prospective vendors. Representatives from various stakeholder groups, including Student Development, Housing and Residence Life, SGA and Business and Finance spoke with the different campus’ current administrators, student leaders and dining staff to gage the levels of satisfaction that each location has with their foodservice providers.

“Overall, the campus visits were see firsthand the condition of the facilities, the food services programs, student engagement programs, variety of the menus, healthy options and which vendors had sustainability programs in place,” stated Evelyn Shields, director of Student Development and Business Administration.

This aspect of the food contract process was reportedly right on schedule and the committee’s next step will look into the specific negotiations with each company. Over the next month, the team will work on finalizing the best offers and deciding on a company recommendation to present to SLU’s executive staff. Financial costs, food quality and variety, work hours and purchasing aspects are a few of the main contract issues that will be negotiated. After awarding a company the position, SLU will begin the transitional process.

“I’d really like to have that done before SLU 101 in June,” stated Kent Porterfield, Vice President of Student Development. “It doesn’t seem like a lot of time but these companies do this a lot so they have a pretty structured plan in place.”

One important aspect of the transitional process will include that of the frontline staff job retention. Both Aramark and Sodexo have expressed agreement in working with Chartwells to interview the current frontline staff and hire most, if not all of their SLU employees.

“These folks, we care about them, they’re part of our Billiken family and we want to make sure that they’re being treated fairly,” stated Porterfield.

Prior to Chartwells, Sodexo was SLU’s foodservice partner for 15 years and is the current food provider at Chaifetz arena. The committee does not expect that this will be a factor in the decision, however, and will be looking at what each company can do for SLU today. Within each company’s bid, the team will specifically be comparing the sustainability practices, healthy options, student appeal and communication, ability to serve on the cutting edge of the industry and the price value.

“We want to make sure that it’s a good price value,” Porterfield said. “So students are getting as much as they can get for a reasonable price. We know that students are cost-conscious.”

Eatery options will also be weighed heavily in the decision, as the committee wants to be sure that students will have dietary choices – both healthy and otherwise. This aspect has been strongly expressed by the student body – one of the stakeholders that the team has consulted throughout the process.

“We want to make a choice that the community feels good about,” said Porterfield.

Jessica Winter / Associate News Editor
Smith: Professor Smith discusses the aspects of black humor with students at BSA event.

In celebration of Black History month, the Black Student Alliance has been keeping Saint Louis University busy this February with an event calendar full of lectures, food, music and art. Humor was added into this agenda on Tuesday evening, as African American Studies professor Jonathan Smith gave a talk on black comedy.

“If you feel like you might be offended by language, now would be the time to get over it,” said Smith at the start of his lecture. The remark was met with light-hearted laughs, and with that Smith began his unveiling of what makes up true black humor.

First and foremost, Smith pointed out that black comedy isn’t what is typically found in actor Kevin Hart’s jokes or director Tyler Perry’s films. It needs to follow certain rules – or else it fails to be black humor and is merely a form of comedy. Political relevance serves as one of its most important defining characteristics.

“Black language and black speech has been so restricted; it has to be political,” stated Smith. He discussed the progression of black humor as having started out during slavery as a way to cope with the daily terrors slaves would experience. This tied into Smith’s black comedy characteristic that it needs to be “difficult to fathom as humor.”

Additional outlined characteristics of black humor included its requirement to be uncomfortable, topical, ironic and black. Smith showed that black humor oftentimes uses these things as a way of saying something without actually saying it. He then showed several comedy videos exemplifying black humor. After viewing the clips, he challenged the audience to consider what it was that made them laugh, addressing epithets and the use of the N-word in the videos.

“There are only certain contexts in which certain people can say certain things,” Smith stated. “It’s all about the ability of people to name themselves.”

Commenting on effective humor requiring appropriate situations, words and people, Smith said that the use of the N-word by a white person is not the same as its use by a black person. He also regarded common stereotypes imposed upon black people, such as the idea of poor parenting.

“There’s this large pitcher of cultural Kool-Aid that makes us think [black] parents are just missing in action,” said Smith.

BSA Communications Chairperson Lauren Bronner commented on finding the whole experience insightful and entertaining.

“I hope that students were able to grasp the concept that comedy and humor can be shared amongst us all if we take the time to understand and embrace each other’s cultural backgrounds,” said Bronner. BSA will be hosting a variety of events celebrating Black History month throughout the remainder of February.

“[We] want everyone to remember that this is a time to educate yourselves and others about the contributions that black people have given to the world we live in.”

Rainn Wilson addresses spirituality and societal goals

John Schuler / Photo Editor
Pancakes: Wilson’s Feb. 6 talk centered on his work with his website, SoulPancake.

On Feb. 6, students at Saint Louis University lined up for a little glimpse into the life and humor of actor Rainn Wilson. What they found amongst the jokes and sarcasm, however, was insight into the actor’s spiritual life and creation of the media site SoulPancake.

Most famously known for his role as Dwight Schrute from NBC’s “The Office”, Wilson co-created SoulPancake in 2008 with the goal of uplifting and challenging people to consider the meaning of life and of being human. Using positive media and inspirational stories, SoulPancake provokes people to engage in meaningful discussions surrounding topics such as spirituality, art, philosophy and creativity. Thursday’s event, hosted by SLU’s Great Issues Committee, allowed Wilson to explore these topics with students.

“When you talk to 22-year-olds … you’re able to touch their hearts and their minds; sometimes you can say the right thing and send someone off in the right direction in their life,” said Wilson. Finding motivation in this idea, he opened up to SLU students on his life, his faith and his mission.

Born a member of the Baha’i faith, Wilson grew up learning the importance of equality, universal education and the idea that we’re all part of one human family. He was taught to work against the prejudices that tear people apart, such as racism, sexism and religious discrimination.

“Baha’i’s are seeking the oneness of humanity and approaching it through the spiritual path,” Wilson said. He lost sight of this mission during his years spent studying acting at New York University – but the spirit of his faith never fully left him. It wasn’t until he realized how truly unhappy he was that he decided he wanted more out of life and set out to explore the question of God’s existence.

John Schuler / Photo Editor
Food for thought: Wilson challenged students to investigate life’s true meaning.

“It’s like being pregnant…there either is or there is not a God,” Wilson remarked on how he contemplated the question. One of the main teachings of the Baha’i faith is the individual investigation of truth, and after taking a 12-year journey to find himself and his faith, Wilson discovered that this was best achieved through contemplation of life’s big questions. To him, too many people inherit their parents’ beliefs without actively exploring religion or individual values. Wilson hopes to change this through SoulPancake.

“I just want to light a spark perhaps … to send [people] on a journey of learning and exploring,” said Wilson. He believes that part of this journey concerns the rejection of our selfish, consumer-driven culture. “We live in this culture of complaint,” he remarked. “Society wants you to be jaded.”

Wilson regards this consumerism as an agent of unhappiness, and incorporated the study of happiness into SoulPancake.

“Happiness is found in every breath, every decision to be happy,” Wilson stated. “Happiness is … to be found in the moment.”

In an effort to plant a final seed of optimism, Wilson told students: “Keep your heart open … it’s easy to be cynical, it’s not challenging at all.”