Digital convenience retailer goPuff announced Nov. 13 plans to construct a new headquarters in Philadelphia, as well as build and expand several warehouses across Pennsylvania in a multimillion-dollar expansion project.

The on-demand delivery service — founded in 2013 by former Drexel business students Yakir Gola and Rafael Ilishayev — will invest $4 million in the multi-stage expansion plan, which centers on the construction of its new 30,000-square-foot HQ facility.

GoPuff began its search for a new HQ facility months ago due to safety and traffic concerns since outgrowing its original location in the Callowhill neighborhood, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. The fast-growing online delivery service currently operates in over 40 U.S. markets across 21 states.

“We are proud to invest in Philadelphia as we grow our footprint and are grateful for the support of the city,”  Gola said in a statement. “We strive to ingrain Philadelphia’s culture as part of goPuff.”

GoPuff’s forthcoming headquarters will be located at 3rd and Spring Garden streets and will provide over 150 full-time jobs.

Additionally, the Philadelphia-based company — which delivers a variety of products 24/7, from snacks to alcohol to smartphone chargers — will launch 10 new warehouses in Allegheny, Chester, Dauphin, Lackawanna and Philadelphia counties. The project will also consist of expanding the six existing warehouses of the company.  

According to a statement released by Governor Tom Wolf’s office, the construction and expansion of the Pennsylvania warehouses will provide about 400 jobs over the next three years.

Governor Wolf met the announcement with praise, as the expansion plan is projected to create over 500 jobs.  

“GoPuff is a great example of how Pennsylvania’s strengths in education, workforce development, and economic stability have created a business climate where startups thrive,” Governor Wolf said in the statement on Twitter. “My administration is committed to providing the support needed by companies like goPuff as they grow.”

The company received a $400,000 grant from the Department of Community and Economic Development for the project, which was coordinated by the Governor’s Action Team. The team consists of an experienced group of economic development professionals who report directly to the governor and work with businesses that are considering expanding in Pennsylvania.

The announcement came following Amazon’s decision to split its second headquarters between Queens, New York and Arlington, Virginia — despite Philadelphia being one of the top-considered cities. While the City of Brotherly Love did not make the final cut for the tech giant, goPuff was certainly fixated on keeping its base of operations in its place of birth.

“We consider Philadelphia our first investor,” Ilishayev said in a statement. “We would not have been able to scale our business as quickly and deliver the moments that matter most to our customers had it not been for the support of the city and the state.”

Drexel and professional entrepreneurs, instructors and investors gathered Nov. 7 and 8 at Behrakis Grand Hall in the Creese Student Center for a two-day celebration of entrepreneurship, networking and competition.

The Drexel Startup Fest, hosted by the Drexel University Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship for the fifth year in a row, featured activities including pitch competitions by Drexel students and staff, raffle prizes, several networking opportunities and keynote addresses by prominent entrepreneurs.

Day one of the event kicked off promptly at 3 p.m. similarly to previous years: with an entrepreneur expo. This was an opportunity for the student entrepreneurs to showcase their businesses or products. The setup of this portion of the event was similar to that of a college fair, where attendees could approach a variety of booths around the hall to learn about one of the student start-up companies. Likewise, participating dragons took it as a chance to better their businesses by receiving feedback from people.

Lindsey Smith, a Drexel sophomore who founded the mobile application Fashion Buddy, participated in the opportunity fair. The app, dubbed “the Tinder for clothes,” allows people to post and rate photos of outfits they or other users want to wear. For instance, if you are unsure about which two outfits to choose from, the app creates a poll that lets others decide which outfit is better.

“It’s like I always say, ‘While one outfit looks good, another one looks great,’” the entrepreneurship and innovation student said. “[Fashion Buddy] is a judgment-free zone that gives people confidence about what they’re wearing.”

Her table included a white board with the question, “What makes you confident?”— encouraging passersby to write their responses on the poster. Smith was not only surprised by the interactivity among people — from feedback to genuine interest in her company — but also the stories that they divulged to her.

“There were a lot of men who could relate to not wanting to be judged by what they wear,” Smith said. “Although the app is for everyone, my initial target audience were women like myself, who have trouble knowing what to wear to an event — corporate, professional or informal. But I found that men are also looking for that second opinion which is what Fashion Buddy is all about.”

The first round of the student fast pitch competition took place afterward. In this contest, participants had only two minutes to present their unique concepts to a table of three judges, as well as a full crowd of entrepreneurs, partners, mentors, investors and fellow Drexel students. The winner would take home a $500 Amazon Gift Card.

One of the pitches included a presentation by Adit Gupta, a software engineer senior who co-founded VyB Technologies LLC.

“VyB is a platform that holds people accountable for the way they treat others,” according to the start-up’s LinkedIn page. “Just as a credit score represents one’s financial accountability, one’s VyB score represents one’s social accountability. Your VyB score bridges the gap between the digital world and the real world.”

Smith also participated in the fast pitch. According to her, it was challenging to prepare a pitch that catered to a general audience, who may or may not have business knowledge, and potential investors.

“When developing my pitch, I kept in mind that I wouldn’t be catering to just one person,” she said. “I made sure that they understood the value of my company, what it stands for and why people believe in it.”

The evening of Nov. 7 concluded at 7:30 p.m. with raffle prizes and an opportunity for attendees to mingle and network.

Day two of Drexel’s biggest entrepreneurship event held keynote speeches from Mike Edwards, Class of 1983 alumnus and former CEO and President of ebags.com, and Jon Nordmark, co-founder and CEO of iterate.ai and co-founder of ebags.com.  

The second day also featured the final round of the student fast pitch competition; entrepreneurship and product design junior and “Just Be” founder Paris Gramann was crowned the winner and took home the $500.

However, the Baiada Institute Incubator Competition — Startup Fest’s biggest competition — led the list of presentation lineups for that evening. Of the 25 startup teams who submitted applications into the contest, only five competitors, plus one “wild card,” were selected to compete on stage. Three winners were selected, who shared the $25,000 prize plus mentorships and other resources.

Outland Analytics won first place and was awarded a $12,500 check and one year of free residency space in the Baiada Institute for Entrepreneurship (located on the fourth floor of Pearlstein Learning center), SEO auditing services from Wanashaker, legal services from Morgan Lewis up to $2,500 and three hours of pro-bono accounting consulting services from GMS Surgent. The startup provides land monitoring systems to prevent illegal activity and environmental damage on public land and private property.

The second place winner, ADHDO, also won one year of free residency space in the Baiada Institute for Entrepreneurship and was awarded $7,500 in cash as well as similar consulting and legal services.

CloutQuiz, co-founded by entrepreneurship student Jeremiah De Leon, earned $5,000 as a result of their third-place win. Inspired by the hit mobile application “HQ Trivia,” CloutQuiz allows users to create their own live quiz with prizes for the winner. De Leon says he and his three core members plan to utilize their winnings to further develop their app.

According to De Leon, winning third place motivated him to move forward with his ideas.

“It’s about giving yourself the courage of letting people judge you and your ideas,” he said. “When you win competitions like this, the validation of winning motivates you. But even to the people who didn’t win anything, they got the opportunity to grow through the feedback [they received].”

While Smith didn’t win the fast pitch competition, she still feels she benefited from the Drexel Startup Fest — which opened her eyes to other opportunities and motivated her to continue her entrepreneurial journey.

“There’s that hustle and competitive nature of entrepreneurs, but at the end of the day it wasn’t about winning as much as it was about growing,” she said. “That’s what’s special about the [entrepreneurship] community in Drexel; we motivate each other and show sportsmanship for our milestones.”

For the full list of  2018 Drexel Startup Fest winners, click here.

Drexel University drew in a modest crowd of people who are interested in graduate school to the recreation center gym Nov. 6 for its first annual graduate fair.

The public event, which took place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., offered visitors the opportunity to meet with graduate representatives from several Drexel programs — such as the Thomas R. Kline School of Law, the College of Computing & Informatics, the College of Arts and Sciences and others — as a well as universities from across the region. Some of the other universities included Columbia University, Brandeis University, John Hopkins University, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania State University, University of Delaware and Villanova University.

According to associate director of graduate admissions Justin Dahlin, the event had a good turnout despite it falling on Election day and rainy weather conditions.

It was important to include a variety of institutions in the event’s lineup. That way, prospective graduate students could look into other programs they’re interested in that Drexel may not offer, he said.

Dahlin’s colleague, graduate admissions’ assistant director Caterina Moreira, believes it’s also a good opportunity for students in the Philadelphia area to be able to meet with representatives that they may not have had the chance to otherwise.

“In our recruitment travels to other schools, we generated a list of universities that we saw a lot of our students go to, so we invited the [university representatives] here so students could speak with them,” she said.

The graduate fair attracted students who are exploring their options.

Taylor Johnson, a design and merchandising senior, found interest in pursuing education in digital marketing after a conversation with representatives from John Hopkins University and University of Delaware.

Meanwhile, other attendees looked to branch out of Philadelphia, and even learned about universities they’ve never heard about.

Aurelia Sugita, an Indonesia native, is in her final year at Drexel as a psychology major. After spending several years in University City, she hopes to continue her education in New York City —particularly Columbia University.

To some recruiters, it was fun speaking to visitors about the college they represent.

Duquesne University student affairs specialist Shantale Davis, whose tasks involve traveling to cities nationwide for undergraduate and graduate recruitment, considers herself an expert of the Pittsburgh-based school. Since she received her bachelor’s degree from Duquesne, she feels she can address many of the questions students may have about the university.

“There are a lot of university recruiters [who] didn’t go to said university, so they’re not able to answer questions students want to know outside of the programs like, ‘Where are the best places on campus?’ ‘What’s the school’s vibe?’ ‘Which cafeterias should you avoid?’” Davis, who is currently working towards her master’s degree at Duquesne, said. “As an actual student I can speak on those things.”

Villanova University recruitment director Anthony Penna enjoyed explaining to students the versatility of a master’s degree in business administration.

“We currently have surgeons, engineers, lawyers and even journalists enrolled in our MBA program, so you don’t necessarily need a business background to enroll and do well — as long as the interest is there,” Penna said. “Like I always tell people: if you’re good at math, if you’re good at finance, then you will do well in our program. If you’re not good at numbers, then that’s why you need our program.”

One of the students Penna interacted with was Matt Sigda, an electrical engineering pre-junior. Although Sigda did not initially intend to visit the graduate fair, he’s glad his friends dragged him to the event.

“I spoke with a couple of schools about their law, business and engineering programs like Temple, Villanova and Drexel,” he said. “They told me I could pursue a career in patent law — something I never really thought about.”

Dahlin and Moreira have been planning the event since April.

Promotion plans for this event included email blasts, social media and music streaming platforms like Spotify and Pandora. The department also took a grassroots approach and posted flyers across Drexel’s campuses, small businesses and cafes.

Those who missed out on this year’s first-ever graduate fair shouldn’t fret; the university plans to host one every fall term.

Allison Durham is a senior majoring in communication with a concentration in journalism. She has been involved with the WKDU Philadelphia 91.7FM radio station since she was a freshman, and recently took on the role as general manager of the student-run station. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

The Triangle: What does your role as general manager entail?

Allison Durham: I’m sort of like the Editor-in-Chief — the main support role. I try to be as present as possible, so everyone can feed their questions and concerns to me. Beyond that, I lead the general body meetings where we introduce new people, plans for the term and other long-term objectives, and discuss how we can progress. I make sure the ship is sailing.

I’m also the booking director, who is in charge of organizing the in-studios. So, when a DJ wants to bring a band to the studio to record live, it’s my role to try to set it up.  

TT: What is the purpose of bringing an artist to a radio station?

AD: You support the artist. I remember one time we brought in a band from Niger who played a great in-studio set. They were playing that same night and put me on their guest list and I went for free. The best part is that, at the show, there were people who said they went because they listened to WKDU and discovered them. People showed up that night because they heard them on the radio and thought they ruled! That’s what’s important — you support the artist.

TT: What is it like when you discover new music organically just by tuning in on the radio?

AD: That’s literally the best feeling ever. It’s like when you’re driving around and listening to the radio but not really tuned in to the music. Then all of the sudden a song comes on that you just love — a song you had no influence over the selection, which makes it awesome. It wasn’t some Spotify algorithm that picked the song for you, it was another person doing that, so it’s almost like you have a relationship with the DJ.

TT: Do you think that happens with the DJs at WKDU?

 AD: Sure! We get emails and phone calls from listeners asking us, “what song do you just play? That was awesome!”

One time a listener emailed me asking for a song name, and I replied to them the following morning. They called me afterwards telling me it was the first time they had tuned in to WKDU. The person told me, “It was so amazing I had to pull over!” Then they asked where they could donate.

TT: Where can people donate?

AD: Anyone can donate at www.wkdu.org/donate if they’re interested.

TT: What are some of the on-air rules a WKDU radio show host must follow?

AD: Well, we’re a non-commercial radio station which means no prices, no addresses and no sales pitches. We don’t play ads and we don’t do underwriting — which is like when WRTI or WHYY says “this is hour of music is presented by…” Generally, the way we teach it to members is that if it sounds like an advertisement, then it is advertisement; you can’t even say the word “free” because that’s technically a price. We also don’t air calls-to-action or make demands in any way. This is all the Federal Communications Commission stuff.

Then we have our own rules that we enforce. For instance, all hosts must play three newly released tracks per hour. Our biggest one, however, is that we don’t play any Top 40 music, past or present. The purpose of our station is for playing music that is just not going to be heard on any other radio station. That’s what our listeners know us for.

TT: When you say “Top 40 music,” do you mean artists or songs? For example, would I be allowed to play a Madonna song as long as the song didn’t ever reach the Top 40?

AD: The way it’s been described in the past is like: if the artist you’re playing on the radio was to come to Philadelphia, where would they play? Wells Fargo Center? The Fillmore? Someone’s basement? We tend to stay away from the Wells Fargo artists. We think about this policy less as a restriction and more as a way to push people to learn about music that’s new to them.

TT: Where do the show hosts pick their music?

AD: They can hook up their laptops to play their Spotify playlists if they want. We also get new music sent to us by local artists every week who are hoping to get their music on the radio. And we have a vinyl and CD library here with thousands of selections ranging from the early ’70s onward — which is what we encourage hosts to utilize. The interesting part is that all of our records are the original records because people would send them to us when they came out.

TT: Does that mean your record collection is worth a lot?

AD: It’s worth millions. And lot of our records are chewed up, which is a good thing because I think it says a lot about the record’s history — you know, like how popular it was and how many times it was used to play songs from the album. Interestingly, a lot of our records actually have marks on them; back in the day, members used to mark songs to tell us to be careful with certain songs because it may contain crass language.

TT: Do you host a show?

AD: This term, my show airs every Tuesday from 4 to 6 p.m.!

TT: Can members host radio talk shows?

AD: We’re generally a music-centric station, but if you wanted to have a show where you played music and talked about movies for a half-hour, that’s fine. A more structured talk show that lasts from 30 minutes to an hour might count as a public affairs program, which we’re required by the FCC to air every day of the week. A public affairs show would be educational or a benefit to the community — something like “Good Morning Neighbors.” We typically air those kinds of shows around 9 a.m. every morning.

TT: What can you say about WKDU? How does it stand out from all the other student organizations?

AD: It’s a place for learning about music that is new to you, that pushes the boundaries, that is under-represented, and so on. And even though we’re not a community radio station, we’re really based in the community.

In fact, this place is what keeps many alumni — who have graduated from Drexel years ago and have almost nothing to do with Drexel as an entity — around and involved. A lot of them have been hosting shows at the same time every week for years. They have their set audience who look forward to it. For example, our reggae DJs live in the West Philly community and know what the people who live there enjoy; they are representing that community like no one else.

TT: Some people think alumni usually don’t want anything to do with their alma maters. Can you comment on that?

AD: The idea that our alumni are not important — to our station, at least— is totally absurd because there’s no way that this revolving door of students could make radio the same way. We also need our alumni because we learn from them.

TT: The curriculum for communication majors doesn’t really have a class that teaches students how to host or produce a radio show, does it? How did you become so proficient at it?

AD: Well, a huge reason why I chose Drexel is because I knew they had a well-established college radio station. I mean, WKDU is heard all around Philly and beyond! So, my interest in radio broadcasting was already there. But, as with anything really, it’s all about getting the experience you get here that makes you better. There’s so much I have learned at WKDU.

I gained confidence in my ability to manage a group of people; I learned how to communicate professionally with musicians; problem-solving is huge also. I mean, I’m no audio engineer, but I know how the soundboards work and what needs to be done to make sure things sound good. Beyond that there’s also so much research involved. You’re constantly learning more about music, labels and your audience. I feel like there’s so much more I’ve learned, but I can say my time at Drexel would not be the same without WKDU.

TT: How can people join WKDU?

AD: To join, people should email Derek at new@wkdu.org for more information on our training process to learn how to use the board and get in the know about WKDU community.

Two Westphal College of Media Arts & Design students each produced an animated public service announcement that promoted archeology-related celebrations for the month of October. The two PSAs took over the Philadelphia skyline for three nights each.

Sophomores Mariia Osanova and Nick Moy, who major in animation and visual effects and are STAR program scholars, spent their summer working on seperate 30-second animations that would be shown on the crown lights marquee of the PECO Building — located on 23rd and Market streets — from dusk to dawn. The student projects, produced in cooperation with Independence National Historical Park and the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum, featured 19th-century artifacts that were excavated in the city.

The first PSA, created by Osanova, was displayed Sept. 26-28. It advertised an Archeology Day event held at the National Constitution Center Oct. 6. Osanova, who didn’t know much about the topic beforehand, began developing her video by conducting research about archeology and its connection to Philadelphia.

“I first tried to find artifacts that were locally excavated,” she said. “I wanted to find out what archeology is associated with in Philadelphia.”

Her research, performed in collaboration with archeologist Jed Levin, head of the history branch at Independence National Historical Park, led her to the images of late 18th- and  early 19th-century artifacts excavated by archaeologists in Old City — which were used in both PSAs.

In her 3D-animated video, Osanova wanted to demonstrate the archeology collection discovered locally. She planned to incorporate a sweeping motion of a brush revealing the artifact. The most tedious part for her was adding the small details to execute the look.

“In the first [draft of the video], the movement of the brush made it look like it was kind of sweeping the artifacts away,” she said. “I had to re-animate the video to make the brush look like it was revealing them instead, giving the movement a more organic look.”

The final product, which was shown 40 feet high on the PECO Building’s LED-display, contained a silhouette of Philadelphia’s skyline with a cotton candy sunset, and an archeological trowel in a digging motion on the far right side of the banner. Then, two brushes appeared as one swept its way towards the left of the digital sign — revealing three locally-excavated artifacts. The PSA concluded with a text banner promoting the Archeology Day event.

Moy’s PSA, which was displayed Oct. 1-3, promoted October as Pennsylvania’s Archeology Month. Moy recalls spending countless hours using editing programs like Adobe After Effects, Photoshop and Illustrator to complete his animation.

“Knowing it was going to be broadcasted over the city of Philadelphia, I wanted it to be perfect,” he said.

Set up in a similar fashion to Osanova’s PSA, Moy’s 30-second animation included a keystone logo on the far right side of the banner to represent the state of Pennsylvania. Over the keystone were two tools that symbolized archeology: a trowel and brush. Then, nine artifact images from the archeology collection of Independence National Historical Park dashed across and up the banner.

“When you think of artifacts, you think of them being dug up from the ground, so I directed the [movement of the artifacts] upward,” he said.

At the Oct. 6 event co-hosted by the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum, Osanova and Moy gave a three-minute presentation about their project in front of about 80 people.

Osanova enjoyed the challenge of making a presentation on a topic she’s unfamiliar with — something she says could take her a long way in her career as an animator.

“If you want to work in the industry, sometimes you will have a director who wants something involving physics or sci-fi and you’ll have no idea what’s happening,” she said. “But [with research and guidance] you’ll get it done.”  

Meanwhile, Moy was excited for the opportunity of having thousands of eyes view his animation work.

“Beforehand, I was just like, ‘Oh, cool, my work is going to be shown,’” he said. “But when I actually saw it on the night of, it was pretty big and really amazing. I hope those who viewed the image understood what I was trying to represent.”

These archeology animations are the third round of PSAs produced over the last six years raising awareness about two annual archaeology events.The first set of PSAs ran on the PECO Building for three annual cycles, the second set ran for two annual cycles and this is the first year for the third set. Previously, Drexel students produced a PSA for “Explore Philadelphia’s Buried Past” held at the National Constitution Center in 2017.

The production of the two PSA was guided by Westphal professor Glen Muschio — who mentored students in the production of all three sets — and supported by the STAR Scholar Program of the Pennoni Honors College.

Many Drexel University students have struggled with finding housing. Doanh Nghiem, a Drexel graduate student in the College of Engineering, is behind the business development of Jove, a real estate app available on iOS which was created to simplify housing searches, especially for students in need of a place to live nearby.

Jove displays listings from the MLS — a real estate listing service — and allows users to schedule either immediate or future home showings with agents in the area. When a user requests to see a property, local agents are notified and can quickly accept requests. Agents can reply to showing requests in less than 15 minutes.

“It’s like Uber for real estate,” Steve D’Agostino, one of the founders of the app, said.

The app was released on the Apple App Store in April. It was created by D’Agostino, Josh Evans, Jonathan Katz and Alex Garashchenko.

Jove can be helpful to college students looking for housing because it will help them quickly find a place to live despite their busy schedules.

“You already know what neighborhood you’re looking in, you already know what your price point is. The hardest part is finding the time and the landlord to get you in and show you the place,” Evans said.

Many Drexel students had to rush to find somewhere to live around campus when their University Housing spaces were given away before the start of this fall quarter. Jove could make a last-minute search like this more efficient.

“Cutting minutes out of the front end search and cutting hours and days out of the time to schedule is valuable because you’re competing with all the other students who are in the same boat,” he said.

Nghiem recalled the frustration of her own search to buy a house.

“Over time, until I found a good agent or broker, it was like I felt really alone. But if I had this at the time, I would’ve felt like I was more prepared to do it on my own,” she said.

Nghiem is an employee at Jove who was brought on the team because of her business education. She earned an MBA from Drexel in 2017, and is now working towards a master’s degree in engineering technology.

“We were drawn to Doanh in large part because of that Drexel education and how well the Drexel MBA bridges theory and practice,” Evans said.

Evans specializes in sales, while D’Agostino is a broker and Nghiem advises the company’s business operations.

A focus group was hosted recently by the startup to gather feedback from app users to aid in future improvements.

“We’re very hyper focused on what customers are saying currently, what users are saying and thinking,” D’Agostino said.

Jove currently has about 200 users and 40 working agents.

“We’d like that to go up at least 10 times or so in the next five years,” D’Agostino said.

The second version of the app is in development, and improvements on bugs and issues will happen every three months. It will be available on Android devices in early 2019.

“We’d really like it to be step one for everyone in the Philadelphia area to start their home and apartment searches,” D’Agostino said.

Last November, Drexel University graduate Joseph Howanski shot and killed a man on Lancaster Avenue. Arrested for murder, Howanski said the shooting was in self-defense. His trial will begin Oct. 15.

The incident was captured by surveillance video Nov. 29, at 11:40 p.m. The deceased Merlos Mukaj, was purportedly arguing with his girlfriend, a Drexel student at the time, when Howanski and a group of friends passed by. After a few minutes, Howanski returned and remained a few feet away from the couple. He reportedly knew neither one of the couple.

Mukaj then stepped away from his girlfriend, which is when Howanski attempted to approach. Mukaj then turned back, pushed Howanski into the street and tried to hit him in the head. This is when Howanski pulled out a gun and shot Mukaj three times in the chest. Mukaj was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Howanski was detained by Drexel police, and admitted to the shooting. He was charged with several crimes, including first-degree murder, possession of an instrument of crime and reckless endangerment.

He was initially denied bail and was held in Philadelphia’s Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility. Assistant District Attorney Ed Jaramillo withdrew the charge of first-degree murder Aug. 15 and Howanski posted bail. He remains charged with murder of the third degree; the legal difference is that the killing need not be “willful, deliberate and premeditated.” Howanski is being represented by defense attorney Fortunato Perri Jr., who claims that Howanski was provoked into violence when Mukaj pushed him into the street and tried to hit him in the head. Howanski was also legally allowed to carry a handgun because he had a license to carry.  The trial will be being presided over by Barbara McDermott.

At Drexel, Howanski was Business Manager for The Triangle and served on the Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee. He graduated from the Lebow College of Business in 2017.

Educator and cultural theorist Jackson Katz spoke to a full crowd at Drexel University Oct. 10 in the A.J. Drexel Picture Gallery about gender-based violence and what we can do as a society to improve prevention efforts in a public talk titled “Gender Based Violence: Who’s at Fault”.

Among the many topics discussed in the over two-hour lecture — from sexual and domestic violence to the culture of silence among men — Katz preached that there are social factors that encourage the normalization of sexism and misogyny, many of which are embedded in our passive language.

“The use of passive voice is a powerful political effect … in the national conversation about sexual assault and domestic violence,” he said. “They’ll ask questions like, ‘how many women were raped?’, rather than, ‘how many men raped women?’ This passive language shifts the focus off of the group with more power to the group with less. Is this not a coincidence?”

The Massachusetts native also described the term “accuser,” when addressing GBV victims, as a giant step backward in our society because coining that word dismisses the experience of the person who was assaulted.

“The use of that word was on steroids in the Kavanaugh hearings,” he said. “When you call a victim of sexual assault an accuser, you reverse the process. The victim is no longer the victim because she is accusing [the suspect] — she is doing something to him…it’s disempowering, which is why many sexual assault victims don’t come forward.”

From there, Katz shared constructive ways people can play a role in the prevention of GBV. He introduced the “Bystander Approach” — a model that was created by his education and prevention program, MVP Strategies. This approach calls for those who are not victimized by gender-based violence to get involved in actively changing the culture around gender, violence and sexism..

“We need to be more ambitious than what I refer to as glorified nightclub bouncer training — where if you see something you say something,” he said. “It’s more transformative than that. We need to speak up, challenge your peers, but don’t remain silent. Isn’t silence complicity? Isn’t silence consent?”

While encouraging men to step up, Katz — whose famous TED Talk, “Violence against women — it’s a men’s issue,” has amassed more than 3.5 million views — also explained that most men are scared to act on their support for women because they don’t want to tarnish their status or relationship with their peers.

Throughout the lecture, Katz took questions from several audience members — most of whom were women. One particular attendee asked for advice on how she should address her male friend, who often makes her feel uncomfortable with his offensive jokes and remarks around his buddies. Katz explained that it’s part of the “public performance” men often employ for their peers.

“When a woman walks by a group of guys and a man makes a comment about her body, he’s trying to impress his friends,” he said as an example. “It’s a theatrical performance and she is the prop. And if you’re a part of that audience, meaning the group of guys, and you laugh along or say nothing, you are consenting to that performance. ”

With this in mind, Katz suggests that people, especially men, raise their expectations on how others talk about gender-based violence, and call out those who joke, speak offensively about or minimize the experience of others. This individual act is a small step towards improving this cultural, institutional and political issue; but if people want real change, it is ultimately up to the men with the power to influence — entrepreneurs, educators, politicians — to fight for this women’s and men’s issue, according to Katz.

“Women’s leadership has been central and transformative, but there hasn’t been enough leadership from men,” he said. “We need a lot more men supporting prevention efforts — men in power, in positions of institutional leadership.”

Jonathan Coopersmith, former business manager at The Triangle,  attended the sold-out event and felt inspired by Katz’s call-to-action. He hopes to contribute to the shift in conversation on campus among male Drexel students.

“It’s about starting the conversation and having students feel safe to have it,” Coopersmith said. “As men, we must educate each other on what it means to be responsible men [in the face of gender-based violence], even if we’re not the ones committing it.”

Katz concluded the lecture showcasing a three-minute trailer of his upcoming film “The Bystander Moment: the Struggle to Transform Rape Culture at its Roots.” Drawing examples from news and entertainment media, the documentary focuses on how gender norms have prompted a culture of silence in the face of sexual harassment and abuse.

The university announced plans Sept. 14 to sublease the Drexel Armory on 32^nd Street and Lancaster Avenue to U.S. Squash, the national governing body for the sport who will then transform the building into the largest squash center in America.

The three-story brick building — which currently houses ROTC and university events such as career fairs — will turn into the U.S. Squash National Center and will become the official home of the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame.

While Drexel will not be involved in the renovations, university president John A. Fry has encouraged the plans.

“Our vision… [is] to bring in a highly motivated partner, in U.S. Squash, that will turn the Armory into a national squash training center — a world-class facility that will be a treasure for the city, a boon to its economy and a place for Philadelphians to pick up a racket and play a lifetime sport that is one of the fastest-growing in the country,” Fry said in a DrexelNow announcement. Fry was chairman of the U.S. Squash board of directors 2013-16.

Construction of the squash center will begin next spring. The interior of the building, to be named after the longest-serving senator in Pennsylvania history and avid squash player, Arlen Specter, the Specter Squash Center will consist of 20 singles courts, two doubles courts and two glass-walled exhibition courts. This project will provide a major upgrade from Drexel’s Kline & Specter Squash Center — with seven total courts among the Recreation Center and the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Building the large squash hub will also allow the U.S. Squash organization to host the U.S. Open — the most prestigious professional squash tournament in the U.S. — in a more spacious environment. In fact, with its opening slated for October 2020, the sport’s new capital center will be constructed in time for the U.S. Open Squash Championships.

“Our longstanding U.S. Open partnership with Drexel University has bolstered Philadelphia’s position as a central hub for the sport and has been critical to developing the event into one of the world’s most prominent squash championships,” said U.S. Squash president and CEO Kevin Klipstein. “With the Specter Center, the same spirit of collaboration will allow us to deliver world-class training for our elite athletes and model how to provide broad community access to squash for the rest of the country to follow.”

But while squash enthusiasts are bracing for this transformation, some Drexel students have different ideas for how the Armory could have been used.

“I think that there are better uses for the armory — something more that’s for the students,” Jeremiah Watson, a marketing and business analytics junior, said.

Watson, who was upset that students weren’t given a warning about the change, said that the campus lacks appropriate students services that are necessary — especially since the student population continues to grow.

“And they’re trying to attract more attention in ways that aren’t helping the community,” he added, which he said doesn’t fit with the university promise to be civically-minded.

He said he’d prefer if the space reflected these ideals and connected students to the community instead.

The space would be better suited for something that makes life more convenient to all students and not just some of its athletes, like a grocery store, George Fee, a video game design senior, said.

Having another spot on campus designated for squash is redundant, according to Fee.

“We already have a pretty well-known squash center,” Caitlyn Treacy, a sophomore studying psychology, said. “I don’t see how this will help the school.”

Treacy felt Drexel’s decision does not reflect what the students want.

“It seems that Drexel is more interested in their plans than the students’ plans,” she said. Indeed, other students wondered whether renovating the Armory at all should have been the school’s priority.

The administration should gear its energy towards improving the on-campus dorms, said communication senior Nicah Aguila.

“Didn’t Drexel just kick out dozens of upperclassmen [from housing] because there were too many freshmen enrolled?” Aguila asked. “I wish they’d prioritize on making Calhoun Hall livable again or investing in better dorms instead of making a squash center.”

Ramya Safish, a senior biology student, was concerned about the activities the Armory was formerly used for. A squash center is not a substitution for the student-oriented events the Armory formerly housed, such as the career fairs and voting, she said.

“The point of college is you have something when you walk away from it — and now they’re taking away the resources to do that,” she said.

Safish said that she is concerned about the amount of people the center will bring it and the effects the overcrowding could potentially yield on traffic, parking and campus safety more generally.

“There’s already too many people now,” she said. “How are they going to guarantee this isn’t going to be a problem?”

Updated 10/30/18 at 7 p.m.

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Drexel University would be transforming the Drexel Armory and a quote from president John A. Fry was also misrepresented. Corrections have since been made. The Triangle regrets these errors.

As kids, we would often hear our parents, teachers and mentors tell us that the sky was the limit. While many of us have carried, and continue to carry, that motivational expression close to our hearts, one Drexel University alumnus, astronaut Chris Ferguson, didn’t limit himself to just the sky.

Instead, the Class of ’84 graduate shot for the stars and went to space — three times, to be exact. And come 2019, he will return for his fourth journey to the International Space Station, located about 254 miles above the Earth’s surface.

Ferguson, 57, is one of nine astronauts selected by NASA to participate in its first space launch from U.S. soil in seven years. Since then, space travelers have been launching into orbit on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

He will serve as a test pilot on the first flight of Boeing’s newly-developed commercial spacecraft, the Boeing CST-100 Starliner capsule. The spacecraft — launching from Cape Canaveral, Florida in 2019 — will fly Ferguson, NASA astronauts Eric Boe and Nicole Aunapu Mann and a cargo of time-critical biological research to the ISS.

This first-of-its-kind journey is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which aims to develop and operate innovative spacecrafts and launch systems capable of carrying crews to low-Earth orbit — the space within 100 and 1,240 miles above Earth — and the ISS.

“Commercial transportation to and from the station will provide expanded utility, additional research time and broader opportunities of discovery on the orbiting laboratory,” NASA explains on the Commercial Crew Overview page.  “The station is critical for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight necessary for the journey to Mars. By encouraging industry to provide human transportation services to and from low-Earth orbit, NASA can expand its focus on building spacecraft and rockets for deep space missions.”

To achieve the program’s mission, NASA awarded contracts worth billions to aerospace manufacturers Boeing and SpaceX in 2014; they were given the competitive task of building their own spacecrafts — engaging in a sort of domestic space race. Fast forward to four years later, NASA assigned a group of astronauts to fly the spacecrafts—Ferguson being one of them.

Among the nine space explorers, Ferguson is the only non-NASA astronaut—dubbing the Philadelphia native as the first “corporate astronaut.” A Boeing commercial astronaut, Ferguson could be the first private citizen to fly to space on a commercially operated spacecraft.

“This has been a little bit challenging for NASA to figure out—how do we deal with a non-NASA astronaut?” Ferguson said. “It’s been made a little bit easier for them to digest because I have the shuttle experience. Had it been someone who didn’t have my background [it] might have been a bit of a harder climb for them.”

Ferguson, who earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, joined NASA’s astronaut corps in 1998 after climbing the ranks of the Naval Air Force. With NASA, he has flown three space shuttle missions, accumulating more than 40 days in space. In 2006, his first 12 days in space were spent piloting the space shuttle Atlantis. Two years later, he flew again to low-Earth orbit aboard space shuttle Endeavour. Then, in 2011, he once again piloted Atlantis on its last journey to the ISS before NASA stopped its space shuttle program. That same year, Ferguson retired from the federal space agency.

“I sort of hated to see the shuttle program go away, and while I realized it was an aging program now, after seven years of being involved with trying to get the replacement going, I really see how difficult it is,” said Ferguson during a phone interview from Houston with Wendy Plump of Drexel’s College of Engineering, where he is training for his upcoming space journey. “When human lives and a national reputation are at stake, you want to make sure everything is just right when it comes to something like a rocket.”

Not too long after Ferguson ended his tenure at NASA, Boeing recruited him due to his vast experiences as a pilot and engineer.

“Chris was the perfect choice to join Boeing’s Starliner team,” Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, told the College of Engineering. “Not only does he bring years of expertise and experience from his time at NASA and the U.S. Navy, but he is an incredible leader with the skills and passion required for a very challenging assignment.”

As director of Crew and Mission Systems at Boeing, Ferguson incorporates his engineering skills by building upon the current operations concept and helping refine the design of the CST-100 — a task he feels is geared to him due to his extensive experience operating vehicles designed for human space travel.

In any case, the ultimate goal for NASA,for Boeing, for SpaceX is to commercialize space flights and to provide ordinary people with an experience that only a select few  have been able to witness. Although the next American space launch may be revolutionary, Ferguson believes there are still some things to figure out before space travel becomes open to the public.

“We are now building a human pathway to space that can be marketed commercially,” Ferguson said. “But the true value of what we are building will not be realized until we create destinations and businesses to justify the journey beyond just NASA’s needs.”

In the meantime, Ferguson will continue to live out his childhood curiosity in preparation for his fourth space journey.

“I remember as a kid looking at a rocket and thinking, ‘Wow, how does that work?’ To learn about the physical properties and the mechanical properties and then to be in a position to fly it,” he said. “A lot of people say that [they have the best job in the world] … but I think I win.”

Wendy Plump, staff writer for the College of Engineering, conducted the interview with Ferguson and agreed to share her interview notes with The Triangle.