VOLUME 97
ISSUE 18
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LOYOLAN
WWW.LALOYOLAN.COM
FEBRUARY 6, 2019
"Is [on-campus]
housing worth
the hefty price
tag?"
Page 14
EST. 1921
Black excellJec" celebrated
Kayan Tara | Loyolan
African Student Association hosted a kickoff event to celebrate the beginning of Black History Month on Friday, Feb. 1. Students
participated in the music, dance and booths set up by African and African-American vendors.
"Black excellence"
celebration hopes to spark
"yearlong conversation."
Kayan Tara
Asst. News Editor
@LALoyolan
This year, Black History Month celebrations
at LMU kicked off with several booths offering
food, clothes and jewelry on Lawton Plaza.
Hosted by the African Students Association,
the event, at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 1,
attracted many attendees.
LMU celebrates the historical and cultural
contributions of African Americans
through a wide array of educational and
entertaining events throughout the month
of February. The LMU theme for this year’s
Black History Month is "Black Excellence,"
according to Dr. Nathan Sessoms, director
of Black Student Services.
“It is important to celebrate black History
Month because, for centuries, black history
in America has been taken away from us and
diluted and mangled by other oppressors,”
said Jaida Macklin, a senior English major.
“Having this month is a time for us to reflect
and having spaces like [the events LMU has]
to celebrate being ourselves.”
The annual celebration of Black History
Month, also called African American History
Month, highlights the achievements and
contributions of African Americans in the
United States. It is also celebrated annually
in Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands and the
United Kingdom.
“The breadth and depth of Black history
is far too expansive to be celebrated in 28
days," said Sessoms. "This is a yearlong
conversation that we should be having —
particularly, given our current national
climate. Black history is American history.
[Every month] is an opportunity to
continuously educate ourselves."
Today, on Feb. 6, an event called “Black
Academic Excellence: Challenges and
Solutions” was held in the Von Der Ahe
Welcome Center at 6:30 p.m. Followed by a
pre-basketball game celebration at the Lair to
be hold on Thursday, Feb. 7, at 5 p.m.
According to Kapri Washington, a junior
English major, "Celebrating black history
month is necessary — not only because it
is a reminder to African-Americans of the
sacrifices their ancestors made for their
freedom, but also so that the contributions
that black people have made to the world are
never forgotten . "
The theme announced by the Association
for the Study of African American Life and
History for 2019's Black History Month
is "Black Migration." According to their
website, “the movement of people of
African descent to new destinations and
subsequently to new social realities” is the
main focus.
Black History Month was first celebrated
nationally in 1976, when historian Carter G.
Woodson and the Association for the Study
of Negro Life and History announced that the
second week of February would be dedicated
to recognizing African Americans in
American history, as reported by PBS SoCal.
See Black history | Page3
LMU CARES
provides new
web resources
LMU's educational program
goes online to provide better
help to students.
Austin Woods
News Intern
@LALoyolan
After identifying this need among
students, a committee of staff members
came together to look into existing tools and
what other universities offer.
Eventually, the committee discovered a
company called Grit Digital Health — which
specializes in providing articles, videos and
other forms of media to universities — to
work with LMU CARES to connect campus -
specific information and resources.
“Let’s say a student is on there and they’re
looking for ways to get motivated to exercise "
Maturi said. “They might read an article or
watch a short video. This content is all in one
space, but the links might say to check out a
fitness class at the Burns Rec Center or to get
involved in an intramural sport.”
LMU CARES had been working with Grit
Digital Health on LMU CARES Online since
the summer of 2018 until the start of the
spring semester, when they decided it was fit
for release.
The website will also be consistently
updated. As LMU expands resources, LMU
CARES will work with Grit Digital Health to
make sure the LMU-specific content of LMU
CARES Online is updated. Furthermore, Grit
Digital Health also consistently releases new
articles and videos of its own.
Every student already has an account, as
it is connected with their MyLMU logins.
Maturi recommended that students begin
by logging in and starting with the “reality
checks.”
See LMU CARES | Page 4
BEN SHAPIRO APPEARANCE ON CAMPUS CAUSES CONTROVERSY
The announcement that American
conservative political commentator
and writer Ben Shapiro will be
speaking on campus on April 3 has
caused controversial backlash from
the LMU community.
As a response to the initial statement
released by LMU on Jan. 31 via their
LMU EXP Twitter page, Nina
Lozano, professor of communications
studies, said that Shapiro should not
be allowed to speak on campus due
to the fact that he “espouses hate
speech, and is linked to numerous
hate groups." Lozano also stated via
Twitter that she will be organizing
protests and alerting media of the
University's decision to approach
Shapiro.
A statement from the University on
Jan. 31 noted that the decision to
approve Shapiro caused "at least one
member of the LMU community [to
be] harassed."
Lozano claimed she was harassed by
“right-wing pressure groups" in a petition on
Change.org called "Statement of Solidarity
with Professor Lozano," started by Lozano,
which had 315 signatures at the time of
publication.
“LMU has a longstanding tradition of
hosting speakers with varying perspectives,
reflecting the university’s commitment to
diversity, inclusion and the free exchange of
ideas," said the University in the statement.
“The process [of event planning] does not
... diminish our support for speakers across
a broad range of personal and political
views."
The Young Americans for Freedom
Foundation (YAF) announced a list of six
universities that were to host Shapiro in an
announcement on Dec. 18, 2018. YAF
also started a petition on Change.org called
"Statement of Solidarity with Free Speech"
in support of Shapiro's appearance that had
63 signatures at the time of publication.
Follow the Loyolan for updates on this
story.
Information compiled by Kayan Tara, Asst. News Editor; Graphic: Jessica Glassbeiq I Loyolan _
Chinese New Year events
Alyssa Reece | Loyolan
Megan Yip fleft), a sophomore screenwriting major, and Meilan Loh (right), a sophomore finance
major, paint traditional Chinese masks to welcome the new year together. "It was fun to make
the masks ... to learn about the importance of each individual mask," said Katie Cadyabe, a
freshman political science and Asian-F’acific studies double major.
