Officials across the university are coming together to consolidate wellness efforts with the formation of Drexel University’s first-ever wellness committee, which is also expected to foster the growth of related wellness programming.

Featuring representatives from about 20 departments, including the Student Health Center, the Office of Equality and Diversity and even the Hagerty Library, the aim is to unify pre-existing resources for improved productivity, according to Assistant Athletic Director of Recreation Bryan Ford.

“All of the different entities around Drexel are doing things for students to be well. We just need to make sure we’re all on the same page with what that looks like and have a more efficient effort and a more collaborative effort so that we’re all doing it in a similar fashion,” Ford, one of the executive members of the newly-formed committee, said.

The immediate goal of the committee, which has already met twice, is to compile all resources around campus — like events, programs and even physical spaces — to have a “one-stop-shop” for wellness on campus. He said that since current resources are scattered across campus, it can be difficult for students — and even faculty — to find and take advantage of them.

“There’s all these different pieces around campus so the trend has been to bring these under one roof,” he said. “To bring everyone together is crucial.”

After merging efforts and building out more partnerships, he said that the next step will be about better integrating wellness into the daily lives of students. With better coordination, he explained, they can eventually bring more options to students to engage in self-care, though he added that they are still identifying precise goals.

However, the committee, which will continue to meet monthly with additional bi-weekly meetings for the executive board members, would like to see a dedicated space on campus for wellness endeavors, as well as a standing program that students can consistently rely on. While current programming exists for on-demand workshops for student organizations, dubbed “Wellness on Wheels,” students who lack a particular affiliation on campus may be left out of this equation, according to Fitness and Wellness Coordinator Laura Sherbondy.

But she said that by giving wellness on campus a true identity, it can become more ingrained into the entire Drexel experience

“It’s all about integrating it into the fabric of our existence,” she explained.

Similarly, Ford said that there needs to be a greater focus on the entire student lifecycle, rather than just token moments in a student’s life.

“We want to make sure that as soon as they step foot on campus that the university cares about their overall wellness,” he said. “From the first 100 days to the senior year experience, we want to make sure that there are initiatives within those existing things — and it wouldn’t just stop at those bookends either.”

The committee, which began at a time when many other universities are creating similar entities, puts wellness in the spotlight and with this, Sherbondy said that students can be more proactive about their wellness rather than waiting until they reach their breaking point. She said that this is especially important considering that many students enter Drexel with pre-existing depression and anxiety disorders.

By making this a university-wide effort, wellness becomes more holistic. Sherbondy said it’s really meant to be a group effort since wellness encapsulates so many different university sectors, spanning a wide range of values like academia, financial and physical health.

“Nobody owns wellness,” she said. “It lives with everyone and everyone has a piece to play in nurturing what that is and the experience for the students.”

They hope that a greater fixation on wellness can ultimately bolster retention on campus while simultaneously decreasing student conduct cases since students can have more preferable outlets to cope with common stressors.

Overall, Sherbondy said this is an exciting development for the university and in the nationwide fight against destigmatizing mental health.

“Getting everyone together at one table excites me because it’s a tiny little step in the right direction of where we want to be,” Sherbondy said. “We just want the students to know that we care about them as human beings and people as well as the engineers or whatever label is cast on them.”

For the past two years, Drexel University has welcomed its two largest freshman classes, but this will not necessarily be a recurring pattern, according to Senior Vice President of Enrollment Management & Student Success Randy Deike.

Despite a five percent increase of applicants from last year, with 31,926 applications received, Deike said that only about 3,300 students are projected to attend, which is equivalent to last year’s numbers.

“It’s not our goal to grow, grow, grow, grow,” he told The Triangle. “We’re about as large in a freshman class as we want to be.”

Though there will be about 23,000 offers made to prospective students, Deike and his team utilize advanced predictive modeling to forecast incoming class size. While doing so, he said it is important to monitor supply and demand and to balance the number of incoming students with university infrastructure and budget, as well as revenue goals and needs since a university cannot truly grow unless it is in a position to construct new buildings and hire new staff.

Though last year’s large class posed housing issues for some students, leaving about 74 displaced, the university is better prepared for this year’s group of freshmen.

“We are enrolling the classes we’re enrolling now because we believe we have the infrastructure to support them and because we’re trying to think about what comes next and how we best position Drexel for that,” Deike said.

The projections, which are based on historical outcomes, cannot always predict all external factors, especially with the ever-changing higher-ed market. However, the team is still confident that there will not be any housing issues considering the materialization of Bentley Hall, which will put about 380 beds on the market.

Either way, Deike said there will be plenty of time to enact contingency plans if necessary, since numbers are almost completely finalized in May and deposits are due at the end of April.

As of now, Deike said that he has no concerns.

“Right now I feel pretty good about it,” he said.

Deike said he attributes the increase of applicants to the changes recently made to the university’s recruitment strategy.

It all comes down to how the Drexel story is told, he said. In the past, the fixation was merely on Drexel’s notoriety to prepare students for the job market, which he said did not give a holistic view of a Drexel education.

“Telling a more accurate story about the real value proposition at Drexel is one of the biggest factors of the success we’ve seen over the past three years,” Deike said.

Simultaneously, the team is working to re-engage with the guidance counselor community and change how they award financial aid. In the past, most aid was based on academic merit, but they are working to invest more towards need-based aid to accommodate a wider pool of students.

Changes to the process really began for the fall of 2015 class, he said, explaining how the former strategy was to get as many students in the applicant pool as possible. They then made the decision to implement an application fee to act as a pushpoint for students and their families to really contemplate their interest in the school, which then cut the number of applications basically almost in half.

Since then, another major priority has been to concentrate on the entire life cycle of a student — from start to finish.

“It’s about making sure that we’re doing everything we can so that students can be successful,” Deike said.

The impact has been huge. Not only has there been a consequent increase in retention rate of students, but it has also translated into higher graduation rates overall.

But most importantly, Drexel’s success story comes during a trying time for the education industry. He said that the entire Drexel community should be proud to see growing numbers when some other universities and colleges are experiencing declines in application rates or even closing completely.

Higher-ed as a whole has to start thinking about curriculum differently and learn how to modularize curriculum to better develop stackable skill sets. However, Deike stated that Drexel is positioned better than any other school to take advantage of what’s coming — thanks to its over 1,600 co-op partners, ranging from an array of industries like business, industry, startups and even nonprofits, which can communicate critical skills necessary for success.

“With how the world is changing and how higher-ed is changing, I think Drexel is positioned better than any other place, so I think Drexel students should celebrate the fact that they’re here,” Deike said.

And the value of a Drexel education should not go unnoticed throughout these changes in the industry, he added.

“It has nowhere to go but up,” Deike said.

The tragedy unraveling in Yemen is rarely in the headlines but a group of Drexel University students are actively tabling on campus to raise awareness and simultaneously garner funds for the cause.

At their first-ever tabling event outside of the Recreation Center March 12, Lebow BRIDGE, a learning community within the Lebow College of Business designed to support underrepresented students, and the Drexel Muslim Student Association attracted crowds of students with free coffee and donuts and kept their interest with staggering facts about the state of Yemen — which has been dubbed as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis of our time.

“We took it upon ourselves to raise funds and awareness on campus,” Sharaine Eldafrawy, a management information systems & business analytics major, said. According to Eldafrawy, 100 percent of the proceeds will go directly to Yemen, where over 75 percent of the population is in need of humanitarian aid, including necessities like food, water, shelter, fuel and sanitation.

Eldafrawy is involved in both organizations, and as she learned the truths about Yemen, she recognized it was important for her and her peers to give the voiceless a channel of support — and to inform other students along the way.

“As we were learning about what was going on in Yemen, we knew as college students we have the opportunity to raise awareness especially [since] they don’t have the opportunity to have their voice heard,” she explained. “This is us doing our part and hopefully more people will learn about it and seek interest.”

Up to 56,000 people have been killed in Yemen since early 2016 and the conflict has resulted in over thirteen million people who have been displaced, looking for shelter from disease and violence. The students are working to share these stupefying statistics to leave a lasting impression on other students.

“We know we can’t cure the whole crisis, but every little bit helps,” Douaa Abdulrazak, the president of MSA, said. “A little goes a long way.”

And though the money is just a start, she said the power of words will yield an even larger impact — and it’s been working.

Students have been even more responsive than she ever anticipated, though she said it’s not surprising considering the cause.

“It’s such a great cause, everyone is willing to listen,” she said.

Eldafrawy said that in the end, it’s all about awareness.

“If one person learns about it, that’s kind of us doing our part; it doesn’t matter how many people we reach, but as long as we reach someone,” Eldafrawy said.

But their impact has definitely surpassed that. At their first tabling event alone, they raised hundreds of dollars and peppered dozens of students with astounding facts about the country.

Many students were learning about Yemen for the very first time.

Nick Bugbee, a computer science freshman, said it was an “eye-opening experience.” Though he was unfamiliar with the crisis prior to tabling event, he said he will now be committed to passing along the word and even donated to the cause.

Eldafrawy said this tabling event will be the start to many more. They hope to hold monthly events, with their next fundraiser taking place at El Taco on April 17 from 12 to 9:30 p.m. Students can also donate to their venmo handle, DrexelwYemen, at any point.

“It’s been very exciting to see the response that people have towards this and we hope to continue spreading awareness and hopefully the conditions get better in Yemen,” she said.

For the past several weeks, students and other passersby have been forced to dodge traffic cones and yellow caution tape around the Dragon statue on 33rd and Market streets, but these construction nuisances are not related to Drexel infrastructure, university officials have confirmed.

Senior Vice President of Government and Community Relations Brian Keech said that construction was precipitated when the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was remodeling sidewalks on campus to improve ADA-compliance. The department inadvertently hit a PECO high voltage line as well as a Veolia steam line, which he said created significant problems — though the university has no part in it.

“Given the location, it’s natural to think it’s Drexel, but it’s not this time,” Keech said. “Drexel is a victim of our location in this case.”

Though efforts to fix the sidewalks have not been moving as fast as he’d like, he said that surrounding intricacies of the dilemma make it understandable. Both pipes are rather significant to regular city functions: the steam line generates power for the university as well as the city at large, and the PECO line provides energy for many people in the area.

Thus, the procedure requires ample time to officialize repairs, complete design work and to maneuver through various levels of governmental approval. Plus, he said, recent uncooperative weather patterns have presented their own line of difficulties for involved workers.

“I would like to have seen this already completed, but certain things are beyond our control — like weather,” he said.

And complications are also a result of living in an urban environment, he said. An urbanized location leads to various problems like aging infrastructure, and mistakes are also always inevitable, he said.

Needless to say, Keech said the university has strongly encouraged the construction companies to speed up the process, which has interrupted a major intersection on campus.

“We put a lot of pressure on them to make this a priority,” he said.

But what’s most important, he said, are the communications that have come out of this issue — both with department officials and students across campus.

He said that not much can be done in the meantime — though the project is finally coming to a close — but students need to keep their safety (and others) in mind. In addition to crossing only at designated points, he also urges students to stop texting as they meander through the dilapidated zone and to always pay full attention without earbuds or other potential means of distractions.

Though it has been a hindrance to on-the-go students and traffic patterns alike, he said that the university has been informed that construction will likely be wrapped up by the end of spring break.

“But it’s still going to be an inconvenience for another seven to 10 days,” he said.

Students use Drexel University’s Recreation Center for different reasons and a new music video that was launched by the Department of Athletics highlights some of these individualized motivations.

The video, “Life Happens Within These Walls,” shows the diverse offerings of the Rec Center complemented by three distinct genres of music made by students from Drexel’s own Mad Dragon Music Group.

“Everyone comes here for a different reason and hopefully this music video puts a spotlight on those different reasons,” Andrew Case, manager of sales and marketing for the Department of Athletics, said. “The answers kind of go all over the place but we figured it out that music is the universal language for a lot of the motivation here no matter what is going on in [a student’s] day.”

Case said that the video attempts to dive into the minds of students and what’s going on with their lives to communicate why they utilize the Rec Center resources — whether it’s to hangout with friends, form new friendships, get over heartache, to alleviate stress or just to start off their days more healthily.

“What we’re trying to tell you is that the Rec Center is a place — no matter what your day is like outside of the gym — when you come here, it’s a great place to be inspired, to meet other people and to be motivated,” he said.

While most ads pertaining to fitness facilities fixate on offering the means to become bigger, faster and stronger, Case said this doesn’t tell the full story. He hopes the video can address the true driving factors in a more candid, wholehearted way.

Though Case oversaw the process, which was a culmination of over six months of filming, planning and editing, it was almost entirely student-run. Matt Kopyt, a music industry student who works as a marketing specialist on Case’s team, approached Case with the idea of showcasing Drexel students’ musical talents when Case expressed an interest in creating a music video. The innovative Case, who never shuts down creative solutions, instantly agreed and Kopyt began recruiting Drexel musicians.

Three different artists got involved, allowing them to connect to an even wider audience, including rapper Timmy Brabston, the rock band Broken Rib and singer/songwriter Mazie.

The video, which begins with Kopyt ambitiously completing a workout to Brabston’s catchy rapping, then cuts into rocky riffs from Broken Rib as it transgresses into students doing a yoga workout in one of Drexel’s group fitness classrooms. It eventually leads to a female student doing a workout to Mazie’s soulful lyrics about heartbreak and wraps up with more students playing basketball on the court.

The Rec Center is all about diversity and Kopyt said the music video and all of the students who helped contribute and film emulate that perfectly.

“We really wanted to showcase those three different genres and the three different meanings behind those songs to help uncover the different reasons and motivations individuals come to the Rec Center,” Kopyt said.

And as students think about their own purposes for using the gym, Case said he hopes to make it clear that the gym is not an intimidating environment.

“If anything it’s the exact opposite; it’s a place to be yourself and feel welcome on such a diverse campus,” he said. “No matter what you’re going through in the classroom, with friends, with family — this is just a place where you can come to socialize, meet friends, whatever it is, we just want you to feel welcome here.”

This, Kopyt said, battles a common misconception.

“There are a lot of individuals that can find rec centers and gyms intimidating because of the nature of the way they’re marketed and the individuals who come here — everyone feels like they’re being judged,” he said. “But at the end of the day, were trying to communicate that this Rec Center is a place where — regardless of your individual motivations — we are a community committed to bettering our own physical and mental health.”

But overall, Kopyt made clear it’s not just about awareness. He said it is more-so about inspiring people to come in the door to commit to working on their physical and mental wellness.

The video, which was released Feb. 21, comes before the third season of “My Rec Life” — another project Case and Kopyt work closely together on. The student vlog showcases the diverse offerings of the Rec Center to show how recreational athletics plays a big part in day-to-day of a college student. It also coincides with the department’s Balanced Project, which shows how the Rec Center plays a vital role in giving students a balanced lifestyle, and Case said the video helps bring the initiative full circle.

Despite the different resources at the gym and the various reasonings behind why students use the facility, Kopyt said that students using the facility should ultimately feel a sense of togetherness.

“Everyone is here doing their own thing but at the end of the day, that is what brings everyone together and that all occurs within these walls at the Rec Center,” Kopyt said.

Sectors of Drexel University’s Pennoni Honors College are currently scattered across campus but a generous $5 million gift from CEO of Bentley Systems, Greg S. Bentley and his wife Caroline, will create a new hub to unify the College.

As part of the renovations unraveling at the former Calhoun Hall, which will now be known as Bentley Hall, a two-story glass and stone addition encompassing about 10,800 square feet will be added to house the college’s offices and seminar rooms.

While this change will have a notable impact on honors students, Dean of the Pennoni Honors College Paula Marantz Cohen said this project will yield a transformative effect on the entire campus since the college’s offerings are more widespread than most students realize.

“People tend to think of the Honors Program when they think of the Honors College,” she said. “A lot of students don’t know how much we do that isn’t just the Honors Program.”

Though students must apply to become a part of the Honors Program, the college is open to all students across disciplines. Beyond the program, which is designed to offer high-achieving students special coursework and programming, there are four other units, Cohen said, that all students can take advantage of to broaden their minds by seeing things beyond the parameter of their field.

The Office of Undergraduate Research, which includes the STAR Scholars program, supports student research across the university; the Center for Scholar Development helps students prepare and apply for competitive grants, scholarships and fellowships in addition to offering mentorship workshops. There’s also the Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry, which encompasses the custom-design major, that offers cross-disciplinary symposium courses. The last unit, the Center for Marketing and Media, gives students the opportunity to be involved with The Smart Set, a nationally recognized online journal, and “The Drexel Interview,” a nationally distributed television talk show, as well as a podcast, “Pop the Question” in which faculty and students discuss topics in popular culture. Pennoni Panels are also currently housed under this sector of the College.

The new addition, however, will connect these units to bring new life to them. While honors classes and offices are currently in MacAlister Hall alongside the research office, the Inquiries Office lives in the library and the Fellowships Office is run out of Disque Hall. The separateness of these units has made it hard to harness necessary synergy for the college, Cohen said.

But she said that this consolidation will also give the honors offerings a stronger presence on campus, since they will now be easier to identify. This, she said, will ultimately equip students to take better advantage of offerings, in addition to connecting students to resources at a much faster pace.

“We’re excited to be all under one roof,” Cohen said. “This will be so different because we’ll be able to collaborate more.”

In addition to unifying pre-existing facets of the honors college, future plans include the introduction of the New Center for Civil Discourse. The center, which will take in the existing Pennoni Panels, will provide a space to encourage civil dialogue as we endure a contentious political climate while also bringing together experts and activists from various institutions to address important and controversial topics from various perspectives.

“The idea of fostering the ability to speak across different points of view I think is lacking in our society, but students need to develop [this] if they are going to become the citizens and leaders we want them to be,” she said.

Cohen said the size of the Honors Program will remain the same — 10 percent of the study body — but she is hoping the other areas of the college can further blossom and attract non-honors students. She wants to encourage students to more thoughtfully explore what the college offers, especially the various fellowship opportunities and intriguing discussions that take place through Pennoni Panels and the “Dean’s Teas” events.

Overall, she said that these opportunities presented by the college help students to become more competitive in a changing workplace, while also making them more interesting to other people and to themselves. Using the words of President John A. Fry, she said that it truly stands as an “intellectual oasis” where students can gather to talk about ideas, explore new avenues of research and think about what their future will be in large, existential terms.

She is hoping the honors addition will become a site where students can contemplate their future goals and aspirations, pinpoint their values, figure out moral obligations and learn how to effectively contribute to society.

“We have so much going on at Drexel, but often we don’t have a place where students can think deeply in the larger sense,” she explained. “Questions about meaning and value are questions I think should be a part of the undergraduate education; now we will have a space where those questions can be pondered and acted upon.”

The new space will include a living room on first floor with a cozy fireplace where students can congregate informally. The first floor will also include three seminal rooms of different sizes for interdisciplinary discussion-based classes, as well as a gallery space for small gatherings and lectures. A terrace in front complete with rocking chairs on a lush, green space in front of the building will provide further space for students to converge. All offices will live on the second floor of the addition.

Bentley Hall — which is currently being renovated by American Campus Communities — will include about 380 beds and is scheduled to open this fall.

The complex is designed to be a true living/learning community for honors college students.

“This is a unique instance of having students and programming and coursework all in one place. There is no other example of this kind at Drexel, and we’re hoping for this to be a model,” Cohen said.

Cohen said she is thrilled to see the project, after almost 5 years of planning, finally come to fruition.

“I’m excited to think about what will happen when you get all these great people together,” she said. “I can’t predict what will come out of it but I think we are going to be able to generate all kinds of great stuff and make life more interesting for the students on this campus.”

Love was in the air Feb. 12, just before Valentine’s Day, but not in the usual way. The Office of Institutional Advancement hosted “I Love DU Day” where students came together to celebrate their favorite parts of Drexel University.

Grateful Dragons passing through two locations — the lobbies of the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building and the Creese Student Center — could honor specific components of their Drexel experience they’ve come to appreciate while also learning more about how philanthropy funds many of these things.

“It’s about coming together and talking about what people love most about Drexel but also celebrating the people that make it possible,” Delaney Dorsey, the program coordinator of the Drexel Fund in the Office of Institutional Advancement, said.

Students could spin a wheel for a chance to win prizes while sipping on hot cocoa, enjoying heart-shaped lollipops and also getting the chance to be photographed holding signs,  highlighting the things students are often thankful for at Drexel such as certain schools within the university, major scholarships, student organizations and athletic teams.

“It’s really awesome they want you to get in the school spirit,” Sara Iuliucci, a biology freshman, said.

Iuliucci held up a sign about the biology department because she said she loves the program and the helpful teachers that comprise it.

Jackie Tang, a biomedical engineering sophomore, said the event made him think about some of his favorite things on campus, like the newly-renovated Quad — especially on a nice, sunny day. He said it was a great way to commend the donors who have contributed to the campus that he adores so much.

“It’s a nice way to give thanks to those who, out of righteousness, gave back to the community,” Tang said.

In addition to showcasing the generosity of our donors, Dorsey said that the event aimed to simultaneously tackle the misconceptions around university philanthropy. Though students may think most of the funds are funneled into visible changes like campus construction, she said that’s not always the case, and she wants students to better understand how philanthropy makes a Drexel education possible.

“It’s not just new buildings, it’s not just expanding campus; it’s things that affect students from day to day,” she explained. “A lot of donor support actually goes into the cost of educating a student — things like athletics, student life, student organizations, Greek life — that’s all supported by donors,” she said.

Dorsey said that this was the perfect way to cultivate an understanding and appreciation of this support.

“It’s a fun way for us to quickly touch base with students and talk to them a little bit about philanthropic support and its impact here at Drexel,” she said.

Drexel also hosts other philanthropic education events throughout the year, like the annual Day of Giving or Thanks for Giving Day.

Engineering student Ryshena Providence helped run the event alongside Dorsey as part of the Student Philanthropy Council. She joined the council, which works alongside the Office of Institutional Advancement, because she wanted to increase awareness of philanthropy on campus. Since she is involved with an array of Drexel organizations like the Society of Women Engineers and the National Society of Black Engineers, and since she is also an athlete, she has directly seen the value of philanthropic generosity.

“I’m extremely grateful I’ve been able to attend Drexel because of philanthropy,” she said.

Chris Crouthamel, a construction management senior, is another member of the SPC who helped coordinate the table in PISB. Crouthamel said that he is a big advocate of Drexel, and he applied to the university — his top choice — the moment he got out of the military.

Since he got to Drexel, Crouthamel said he’s been trying to make the most of his time at the university, which he said he loves since it’s so military-friendly and full of unique opportunities.

“I’m just so thankful to be a Drexel Dragon,” he said. “They offer a lot to the students.”

But he doesn’t want these offerings to go unnoticed,  which is what motivated him to join the organization.

“A lot of stuff they have here isn’t from tuition,” he said. “Donors have a big impact, and it’s nice to thank them for that.”

Charlie Pratt, an engineering sophomore, said he wasn’t aware of how much philanthropy funded everyday facets of the university prior to the event.

Many students who attended left with a similarly new perspective.

“I learned a lot about Drexel Fund,” Angela Le, a material science engineering junior, said. “It’s nice they’re trying to increase awareness.”

But it wasn’t just about awareness, Dorsey said. It was also a way for students to get together to feel a sense of school pride, which she said is important for a school that may not have other regular avenues of school spirit.

“Drexel’s sense of school pride is unique. It’s different from other schools, and they have different rallying techniques,” she said. “That point of Drexel pride is largely focused on the great education students are receiving and the co-op program [that] provides so many opportunities that you just wouldn’t get at another school.”

Shelisa Shaju, a biology freshman, said she’d love to see these tables set up more often to further bolster school pride.

“I loved how it went with the holiday,” she said. “But I wish it would be more often throughout the term just to cheer people up.”

Overall, Dorsey said this is only a piece of the puzzle for creating an even stronger culture of philanthropy and philanthropic impact.

“We hope that’s a tradition and a culture that continues throughout the future,” she said.

The opioid epidemic continues to wreak havoc in the Philadelphia community, and Drexel University graduate and photographer Jeffrey Stockbridge has invested over ten years into capturing footage that reveals what’s really going on in areas like Kensington.

His exhibit “Kensington Blues,” which runs through the end of March in the Paul Peck Alumni Center Gallery, thoughtfully fuses together a myriad of photographic techniques to depict the emotional and physical turbulence of drug addiction in hopes of rallying the public to get involved and to support community harm reduction practices.

“How many people need to die in order for the city to do something about it?” Stockbridge said. “This exhibit is really a call to action — it’s time for the city of Philadelphia to do something to help end overdose deaths.”

He said it’s time to show wholehearted compassion and to try to craft creative solutions for this issue that has already had an irreversible effect on the city. Last year, over 1,100 people in Philadelphia alone died from an overdose.

Though efforts have been taken across Philadelphia, which Stockbridge said he applauds, he said it’s still not enough. Despite the emergence of the Philadelphia Resilience Project backed by Mayor Jim Kenney that aims to open a supervised overdose protection site called Safehouse, the federal government has already preemptively started a lawsuit against the site.

“That’s unacceptable in my opinion,” he said. “I don’t know if any of the [people] who are responsible for this lawsuit against the city have actually taken the time to walk down Kensington Avenue or Emerald Street or Gurney Street to see what it’s like. If they did, I think they would rethink their position — at least I hope they would.”

Though he can’t outright change the mind of lawmakers, he said he is hoping this project can better delineate how addiction in a neighborhood like Kensington is represented by humanizing what’s happening to victims in a way that still shows the ceaseless brutality of the opioid crisis.

He first became acquainted to this population of people as he carried out his senior thesis in photography at Drexel back in 2005. The project, in which he photographed abandoned houses all over West Philly, unexpectedly paved the way for this particular endeavor.

“This was my first face-to-face interaction with people that had lost everything as a result of their addiction,” he explained. “When I started to make these portraits and got to know these people and their stories, I realized I had a whole new project on my hands.”

He said he now knows that the project was waiting to happen all along.

Stockbridge, who said he is always looking to talk to new people, was drawn to the stories behind the people of Kensington so he followed his curiosities and learned more about them.

“I became more interested in who they were and where they were and what their lives were like. And there were interesting similarities between these people and the houses I had been photographing,” he said. “Essentially, both were abandoned.”

But when he stumbled back into Kensington, he said it was important that he went into it with absolutely no expectations, no preconceptions and, most importantly, no agenda.

To Stockbridge, this project is all about giving a voice to a population that he says is normally rejected and criminalized by society; it’s about breaking through the norms to show that they’re no different from everyone else.

“It’s a population of people that is shunned so severely by society that they almost might feel as if their voice doesn’t exist — like it’s squashed by everyone else’s voices,” he said. “But I was taken by surprise at the depth of stories people were willing to share. What it showed me was that these individuals had a deep desire to connect, a deep desire to confront the demons in their lives, to share what they were going through.”

It admittedly got hard for him to listen to the stories that people were sharing, as they were so personal and tragic. He knew that photographs alone couldn’t communicate the raw details of the moments he was viewing, so he began to introduce audio into the process.

“As a photographer, I’ve never felt entirely satisfied with the picture alone,” he said.

So in addition to 4-by-5 portraitures that confront the viewer alongside candid, documentary-style photographs that essentially freeze moments, the exhibit includes videos and audio that bring these stories fully to life. He said that the pieces of the project, which have a strong narrative element, make these complex stories more digestible.

While the photographs leave viewers with questions, he said that the videos answer them. It’s a chilling experience that requires all senses to process and feel for these victims. Viewers get a glimpse into the lives of these individuals to gain a better — and less critical — sense of the suffering they endure as they battle substance abuse.

“I think that’s an extremely powerful experience for the viewer,” he said.

Though he said that interacting with the people of Kensington and learning their stories has been an incredibly rewarding experience, he wants people to realize they’re just like anyone else.

“The people that I have met and photographed in Kensington are not unlike anybody I’ve met and photographed from any other neighborhood; they’re just human beings that are having a rough time,” he said.

Despite the stereotypes of users in society, which are sometimes further perpetuated through other photographic representations of drug addiction, Stockbridge said he learned the importance of compassion through this project.

And he learned about himself, too. He said that he’s learned that he needs to be able to take the time to really explore a neighborhood so that he can develop a true opinion and find a way to express that in his work while simultaneously gaining trust in the community.

“I’ve really learned how important it is to my process to spend a lot of time in the neighborhood that I’m photographing to feel as though I’m doing the work justice,” he said. “Having a continued presence is extremely important to me. I’m not a fan of the swoop-in, swoop-out photojournalism.”

He hopes to see more substantial changes in Philadelphia from his work. While he’d like to see the city put forth resources and people who are willing to do outreach work to effectively help individuals get into treatment to reduce overdose rates and death, more simply, he just wants people to start by being more aware.

“I hope to encourage the public to get involved and to support harm reduction practices that can help reduce overdose deaths in Philadelphia,” he said. “I want people to pay attention.”

In the future, he hopes to continue telling this narrative while focusing more on stories about recovery and people who have made a conscious decision to try to reenter society, though he said those stories are more complicated to tell and possibly less visually interesting for people to see. He’d also love to be the photographer that captures the city’s overdose prevention site if it ever actually comes to life.

And for years to come, he said he wants to continue with the Kensington Blues style of capturing audio alongside photos to have a true impact.

“It ultimately comes down to the power of art and the power of storytelling to effect positive social change,” he said.

Drexel University is known for its hands-on learning like the infamous co-op, endless research and study abroad endeavors and community-based learning courses, so it’s not surprising that Drexel finance students are getting the opportunity to manage millions of dollars in stocks.

Managed by LeBow College of Business undergraduates through two courses, Applied and Advanced Portfolio Management, the Dragon Fund has given students access to industry experts and networking opportunities since 2007 when it was started by a $250,000 endowment. But this quarter, students running the equity portfolio, which now is worth more than $2.2 million, got to pitch stocks at a symposium held at the New York Stock Exchange.

“Getting to go the NYSE was a once in a lifetime moment for us,” finance major Max Goldstein said.

This opportunity, like many others available to students involved in the fund, offered students real-world experience, which is what finance senior Dean Blank said the Dragon Fund is all about.

“It really opens up the doors for Drexel students in finance,” he said.

But this event, which was hosted by Benchmark Investments, has been one of the biggest doors it has opened for the students, who had to apply to become a part of the official team.

During the symposium, Blank, Goldstein and a team of four other students joined a discussion on new ideas in the industry — mostly focusing on technological advancements — in front of a crowd of several hundred Wall Street experts, while it was also live streamed to an even wider audience.  

“It felt great to speak in front of so many industry professionals. I have always enjoyed public speaking and this was the greatest public speaking opportunity that I have ever had,” Goldstein said.

Rachel Bliss, a finance student who transferred to Drexel, said it was a uniquely special opportunity that she still can’t believe she experienced.

“It is surreal to think about. I transferred to Drexel in April 2017 and would have never thought I would get an opportunity to speak at a symposium,” she said. “It has made my overall Drexel experience memorable.”

The team also pitched two companies related to technology during the forum. The stocks they pitched included Global Payments, a payment processor, and Proofpoint, a cyber security stock. Both have performed well, Blank said, noting that Proofpoint in particular has experienced an impressive revenue increase since the team first invested in it.

“We bought it in December and in the past month, it’s had about 44 percent return already. That’s about 15,000 return in a month, which is good,” he explained.

But the fund, which specializes in U.S. midcap stocks, has shares in a wide array of industries, according to Blank.

“We’re a pretty diversified portfolio,” he said, explaining that it’s important to permeate varying sectors to protect against inevitable market volatility.

Students in the courses do vast research on potential stocks that they share through thorough reports. At the end of the term, it is decided which stocks will be sold or bought based on a group consensus that is ultimately approved by the professor of the course.

While Blank said that prior finance classes have taught students how to evaluate companies, these particular classes help students acquire a proficiency with financial software used by institutional investors, such as Bloomberg and FactSet, and they also get to work with senior investment professionals in collaboration with Drexel’s investment office as well as seasoned Drexel alumni.

Dividing into prominent sectors, like technology, energy, materials and consumer staples, Blank said the students work top-down.

“I think it’s really helpful how the class is structured that you kind of work from macro level and then go down to find where you see growth,” he said.

And though students are divided by the different sectors of the economy, it is still a mutual undertaking.

“The collaborative nature of the class fosters learning in a very unique way. Everyone in the class is on the same team and we all want to see each other succeed,” Goldstein said. “Preparing and then ultimately delivering a presentation in front of so many people just brought our teams closer together.”

This, Blank said, results in a tight-knit group.

“You’re all working together on the same team even though it’s different groups,” he said. “It’s work hard, play hard,” he added with a laugh.

Bliss said the student team is the best part about being in the Dragon Fund, but though the group has fun, it’s not easy work.

In addition to adjusting to a strong learning curve that results from inheriting a pre-existing portfolio with every group of students, Blank said there is a lot at stake since they are handling real money, which undoubtedly puts great pressure on the students.

Bliss added that the financial modeling that is involved when choosing a stock is particularly hard to maneuver since there are a lot of factors involved in the valuation of stocks.

But in the end, Blank said that there is no better experience. While he said co-ops are still highly advantageous for the field, they may not present as many challenges that are necessary for individual growth.

“You don’t get an experience like this where you’re really challenged,” he said.

Plus, students got to learn a lot of key takeaways about the real world of finance, Blank said. Most importantly, the group learned a lot about the presenting, which he said is especially important in finance. And overall, he said, he learned a lot about the hidden complexities of the perfect pitch.

“There’s so much that goes behind it that people don’t realize,” he said. “You’re doing all that research to pitch for only three minutes.”

And for Bliss, she said that she learned the importance of being open to opportunities. Though she had second thoughts about the class at the beginning, it was all worth it in the end.

“I was hesitant to stay in the class because it is a lot of work; however, I am so glad I didn’t drop,” she said. “I have learned so much over the course of six months and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

And the learning doesn’t stop there. The class will also have the opportunity to pitch stocks at Philadelphia’s FS Investments within the next few weeks and they will also be taking a trip to Goldman Sachs in New York later in the term for the same purpose.

This experience, Blank said, will be incredibly useful post-graduation as the students apply for jobs. Not only will they feel more comfortable pitching, but they will also know the ins and outs of the software programs — something that he said he is very thankful for.

“It’s not something everyone gets the chance to do,” he said. “It was probably the highlight of my Drexel experience because I got to experience things I never would have in my life.”

It was also a highlight for Goldstein, who said this has been his favorite course at Drexel.

“From an experiential learning perspective, there is simply nothing like it. The group of individuals that make up the fund is more of a team than a class. The supportive nature of the fund as well as the exciting investment opportunities that each student brings to the table is really what makes this class so worthwhile,” he said. “I cannot recommend it enough.”

Disclaimer: Dean Blank is a former Business Manager of The Triangle.

Priyanka Shah, a senior biological sciences major in the BS + MD program, was recently crowned as the 2019 Royal Dragon at the Homecoming basketball game. Homecoming Court nominees were based on their ability to represent Drexel University, campus and community involvement and academic success.

This interview was edited for grammar and clarity.

The Triangle: What are some of the things you are involved with at Drexel?

Priyanka Shah: I am a student ambassador so I talk to prospective students and their families, give tours and help out at Accepted Students Days and Open House Days. I am also treasurer of TriBeta, which is the biological honors society. Outside of Drexel, I am a member of Tenth Presbyterian Church and I am involved in their medical campus outreach, which has panels and dinners. The outreach portion of it is going out into the community and then doing door-to-door blood pressure tests and blood glucose screening tests.

It’s important to give back to the community. I think Drexel has given me so many opportunities and I know a lot of other students feel that way, so it’s important to get experience through outreach and just staying involved in the community. I’ve definitely learned a lot by being an ambassador and interacting with people I don’t know, and through TriBeta, I’ve definitely learned a lot of leadership skills as well as teamwork.

TT: What made you want to run for Drexel’s 2019 Homecoming Court?

PS: Honestly, I didn’t know much about it — my friend nominated me. But once I looked it up and I looked at the process and the things they were looking for in the Royal Dragon, I was like okay this is something I really want to do. I really feel like I’ve pursued different opportunities within the Drexel community and in the Philadelphia community at large so it’s recognition that I wanted.

TT: How did you campaign?

PS: I had two routes to campaigning. One was reaching out to people who I knew or had known in previous classes or college experience and events — mainly through texting or Facebook messaging. But the second part was reaching out to students I didn’t know. The main way I did that was going to Homecoming events. For example, I went to the bonfire and introduced myself to people or just through talking to people in my classes or walking up to people in the library or the Creese Student Center. I think students were really receptive to the fact that someone was approaching them and taking initiative to get to know them.

TT: Were you surprised when your name was called at the game?

PS: It kind of felt surreal in that moment. I don’t know whether I was expecting to win or not; I guess I wasn’t really going in with any expectations of winning or losing. What’s interesting was, when I was out campaigning, I would ask people if they were going to the game and some of them said yes, so it was nice to know that people who had voted for me were in the crowd and I had somewhat of a student body support. It felt cool; it felt like the student body was really supportive and I’m definitely grateful for that.

TT: What does the title Royal Dragon mean to you? What should this person represent?

PS: What Royal Dragon means to me is definitely someone who has taken initiative in the Drexel community and gotten involved in different clubs or activities — maybe not just in the community or in Philadelphia but wherever they are at home.

TT: What do you hope to do with your title?

PS: There are three main things. I realize that I really like reaching out to people that I don’t know. I guess I kind of already knew that because I am a student ambassador, but I realized through the campaigning process I really enjoy it a lot more than I thought I did. I really enjoy getting to know people; I love meeting new people. I definitely want to keeping doing that. Second, I definitely want to go to more basketball games. I went to the homecoming game and it was super fun and since this is my senior year, I really want to check out more before I graduate. The third thing is, I’m not sure if I get to represent Drexel at certain events, but if I do, I think that would be awesome because I would just be so honored to do that. Drexel has given me so much and I would love to give back in any way that I can.  

TT: When you first came to Drexel, did you ever think you would end up on Drexel’s Homecoming Court?

PS: If you had told me in high school that one day I would be on homecoming court I probably would have laughed. I always thought that — and I realized that most students have this misconception — that it was just a popularity contest, but the initial screening process for Royal Dragon is community involvement and GPA and you have to have a personal statement and everything so it’s definitely more than just a popularity contest.

TT: How did you end up at Drexel?

PS: The biggest reason I came to Drexel was for the BS + MD program. I loved the accelerated program and I also loved my advisor. Since I’m from Pittsburgh, I couldn’t just walk over to Philly and go meet her in person, but I had quite a few questions about my plan of study and my time here at Drexel so before I even stepped foot on campus, she had a 45-minute phone conversation with me.

I also loved the location that Drexel is in. I knew I wanted to go to the school in a big city and Philadelphia seemed to be the perfect fit. I like that we’re in University City so we have our own college town but if we want to be in the city, we can be in center city in 10 or 15 minutes, though we still have green spaces too.

TT: What are some of the ways Drexel has changed your life and given back to you?

PS: One way I feel like Drexel has given back to me is definitely the opportunities. Most schools don’t have an accelerated BS + MD program. And throughout the whole process, Drexel has been really welcoming. I still remember when I came for my accepted students’ day. There were so many ambassadors that greeted me and there was the whole pep band. It was exciting! Also, just to have so many different clubs and events going on around campus; it’s really good to know that Drexel cares about its student body.

TT: What is your favorite thing about Drexel?

PS: That is a hard question. I would definitely have to say the faculty here. I’ve had so many good professors and my advisor is amazing — I couldn’t ask for a better advisor.

TT: As a representative of Drexel, what do you have to say to the student body?

PS: The first thing that comes to mind is make the most of this experience because once you graduate, it’s not going to come back. As I’m getting ready to leave Drexel, it’s really hitting me that college is almost over. I still have a bucket list of things I want to do and places I want to eat. Once you get here as a freshman, I know it can be intimidating to be on your own for the first time, be on a big campus and be in a big city, but definitely branch out because it’ll be so worth it and you’ll have so many good experiences to look back on when you’re a senior.

TT: What advice do you have for students that want to be Royal Dragon in the future?

PS: Go for it. It’s a really cool experience; it’s a lot of fun just meeting people on the court as well. Just getting the recognition of even being on the court is an accomplishment itself at halftime at the Homecoming game. So just go for it. If you have any fears, you’ll overcome them.