LGBTQ Alliance gets ready
for Rocky Horror
Local band debuts album
Page 8
Page 7
The News Source For Webster University
THE JOURNAL
Volume 69 Issue 7
December 3-December 17, 2015
websterjournal.com
Carrying the weight Webster loses more
than 1,600 students
Preliminary reports show enrollment drop
By Kavahn Mansouri
Editor-in-Chief
Webster University’s total
student headcount dropped by
more than 1,600 students from
last year, continuing a fiveyear decline in enrollment, according to preliminary enrollment data.
Graduate and undergraduate enrollment dropped by 9.5
percent and 6.2 percent respectively between academic
year (AY) 2014 to AY 2015.
Graduate enrollment fell by
1,348 students, and undergraduate enrollment dropped
by 305 students. The numbers
come via a publicly-available
disclosure to Webster’s bondholders.
In 2012, Webster aimed to
increase undergraduate enrollment to 5,000 students by 2020
through its master plan. To
reach that goal, undergraduate
enrollment would have needed to increase by two percent
each year until 2020. According to the disclosure, Webster’s
current undergraduate headcount is 4,630.
For the first time since
2008-09, undergraduate enrollment dropped by more
than 80 students.
Since AY 2010, Webster’s
combined undergraduate and
graduate enrollment has declined by 4,166, or 23 percent. Graduate enrollment has
fallen by 3,904 students while
undergraduate enrollment has
dropped by 262.
Provost Julian Schuster
spoke to faculty about enrollment and the need for new
programs at the November’s
Faculty Assembly. Some faculty members at the meeting
said creating new programs is
not the only answer to enrollment declines.
Faculty Senate President
Gwyneth Williams said the
growing pains of creating new
programs while expanding old
ones is that not everyone will
always agree on the balance of
exposure to the programs.
At a 2014 Faculty Assembly, Julian Schuster said 75
percent of Webster’s tuition
revenue comes from graduate
enrollment, while the remaining 25 percent is made up by
undergraduate enrollment. He
said 95 percent of Webster’s
total revenue is made up of tuition dollars.
Vice President for Enrollment Management Robert
Parrent declined to comment
and directed The Journal to
University Spokesperson Patrick Giblin.
Giblin said the university
could not comment on the enrollment numbers until a final
tally is completed, with the expected completion date being
Dec. 4.
“Until the administration
has time to review the final
numbers, any comments on
the reports would be premature,” Giblin said.
In 2014, Julian Schuster and President Elizabeth
Stroble said declining graduate enrollment was the leading cause of a budget shortfall.
See Enrollment Page 2
Webster’s enrollment from 2011 to 2015
LIVIE HALL / The Journal
Webster student Vaughn Davis crosses Edgar Road on campus with a cinder block chained to his leg. Davis
said his display was performance art to show the weight black students carry with them every day.
Total headcount of Webster students
(worldwide)
22,400
20,800
19,200
17,600
16,000
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
2015-2016
2014-2015
See story on Page 2
Post-Dispatch editor withdraws from teaching at Webster
Alumna claims newspaper ‘publicly shamed’ her after sexual assault, challenges the hiring
By Kavahn Mansouri
Editor-in-Chief
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Political and National Editor Christopher Ave withdrew from teaching a social media and politics
course at Webster University.
His decision to resign came after
Webster alumna Brittany Burke
wrote to members of Webster’s
administration challenging the
hiring of Ave.
Burke said Ave was responsible for her public shaming by
running a story in June about her
sexual assault. The story, which
was written by now retired PostDispatch writer Virginia Young,
named Burke as a sexual assault
victim, Burke said.
Burke said Ave and Young
did a disservice to all sexual assault victims by using Burke’s
name. She said reporting names
makes it harder for victims to
come forward for help.
On the morning of April 9,
2015, Burke contacted police af-
ter she woke up in a hotel room
in downtown Jefferson City. She
said she was covered in blood,
mud and missing some clothing.
She contacted police, who then
conducted an investigation and
a rape kit.
“My rape investigation was
used as an excuse and attempt
to smear a former elected official, generate website traffic and
clicks,” Burke wrote in her letter.
Post-Dispatch ran an article
June 19 about former Missouri
House Speaker John Diehl’s relationship with Burke. Burke said
the article named her as a sexual
assault victim and used a photo
of her — things she said ethical
journalists avoid doing.
Ave withdrew from teaching the social media and politics
course after Burke sent her letter
to Webster’s administration.
In an email to The Journal,
Ave said he withdrew from Webster to spare the university any
further negative publicity.
“It is disappointing that any-
one would express anger at a
news organization by depriving
college students access to a useful
class,” Ave said. “Still, I withdrew
from my Webster assignment to
spare the university any more
negative publicity.”
Ave wrote in a statement
to Riverfront Times (RFT) that
he believes students would
have greatly benefited from the
course. He said it was disappointing that academic freedom
would be harmed.
“I find it unfortunate that
any person — well intentioned
or otherwise — would seek to
limit academic freedom at an institution of higher learning,” Ave
wrote in his statement to RFT.
Burke said it was clear in
Ave’s statement to RFT that he
still did not understand the issue.
“Christopher Ave can take
shots at me all day long. His response in trying to insinuate that
my letter is an attempt to inhibit
academic freedom is a great example of how tone-deaf and out-
of-touch he is,” Burke said.
Burke’s letter to administration became a controversy after
it was shared on social media,
Dean of the School of Communications Eric Rothenbuhler
said.
“[Ave] wanted to spare us the
pain and difficulty and distraction of him teaching a class for us
when he was attracting this kind
of controversy and these kinds of
claims and debates about his fitness as a professional,” Rothenbuhler said.
Rothenbuhler said he was
concerned after receiving Burke’s
letter. He emailed her back and
promised the university would
look into the matter. Within the
next few days, Ave withdrew.
Burke’s letter to administration inspired fellow alumna
Elizabeth Eisele to write her own
letter to Webster administration.
While Ave withdrew from teaching before it could be sent, more
than 30 alumni signed Eisele’s
letter backing Burke’s call for
Ave’s dismissal.
“At college campuses where,
in general, sexual assault is a
problem, this is a really big deal,”
Eisele said. “I took media ethics
at Webster, and I think it’s pretty
obvious that it was incorrect [of
Post-Dispatch to name Burke].
When you name a victim, you’re
making sure no other victims
come forward for fear they are
named, too.”
Eisele said she worked
alongside Burke at an internship
and also knew her from her time
at Webster. Eisele said the PostDispatch article publicly shamed
Burke by including her name,
photo and the amount of drinks
she had the night she said she
was sexually assaulted.
RFT ran a story titled “How
the Post-Dispatch shamed a possible rape victim — and embarrassed itself.” Along with
RFT, several other publications
including Poynter Journalism
See Burke Page 2
Contributed Photo / Brittany Burke
Brittany Burke challenged the hiring
of Post-Dispatch editor Christopher
Ave as a teacher at Webster
University. Burke said Post-Dispatch
publicly shamed her as a sexual
assault victim.
News
Page 2
Burke
FROM PAGE 1
Institute and Columbia Journalism Review also criticized
Post-Dispatch’s
coverage.
Burke said she is not only
standing up for sexual assault
victims, but also attempting to
protect journalistic ethics.
“I truly believe Christopher Ave, Virginia Young and
Post-Dispatch have done a
great disservice to the public
by possibly deterring rape victims from coming forward to
seek support and have access
to the resources they deserve,”
Burke said.
Burke said she spoke out
against Post-Dispatch because victims of sexual assault
should not be publicly shamed.
Burke said Ave’s resignation is
a major victory.
Rothenbuhler said the social media and politics course
is still being offered by the
university and a new instructor has been found. He said
School of Communications
Department Chair Gary Ford
is confident in the new instructor.
The class will coincide with
several political campaigns,
including the U.S. presidential
campaign. He said the class
will cover how social media
changed political journalism
and campaigning.
“We pride ourselves in
providing our students access
to successful professionals
and try whenever possible to
bring them into classrooms,”
Rothenbuhler said.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
NEWS BRIEFS
Robbery of Webster student near Big Bend
Apartments reported to be false
Webster University sent an
email out Monday, Nov. 30 that
a robbery had occurred near
campus early Saturday morning. The email said the female
victim, later confirmed to be a
Webster student, was robbed
while parking her car near the
Big Bend Apartments, which are
owned by the school.
However, Director of Public
Relations Patrick Giblin said after an investigation, the student
(who cannot be named due to
FERPA laws) admitted to po-
lice she was actually robbed in
North County.
“The reason she originally
reported it as being near Webster University is that she apparently was robbed in a neighborhood that her parents had told
her to stay away from. She didn’t
want her parents to know that
she was in a place that she told
them she wasn’t going to [be
in],” Giblin said.
Reporting by Livie Hall
Webster ranked number one for diverse
graduate student populations
The Webster University
main campus will host “Embracing Diversity and Inclusion: Critical Conversations”
Feb. 29 and March 1, 2016,
President Beth Stroble and
Provost Julian Schuster announced Dec. 1.
The event will have keynote addresses, student panel
discussions, and facilitated
dialogue sessions to provide
opportunities for attendees
to share their experience, research, and trends in communities that embrace diversity.
According to Webster
News, the goal is to explore
ways to move forward towards
equity, valuing the benefits
that come from diverse communities.
Webster University has
been recognized for the past
24 years for having diversity
of master’s student graduates,
and serving a global population in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Two nationally recognized
leaders in diversity and inclusion will present.
Lee Gill, the associate vice
president for Inclusion and
Equity, and the Chief Diversity Officer of the University
of Akron has been working to
advance diversity and inclusion in university’s. During his
years at Akron, the university’s
diversity council has twice
been recognized as among the
top 25 in the country.
Adis M. Vila has been a
corporate executive, government official, academic administrator, and attorney include serving as the first chief
diversity officer at the United
States Air Force Academy. She
is now a senior fellow for the
Institute for Cross Cultural
Management at the Florida Institute for Technology.
Reporting by Livie Hall
WEBSTER GROVES
CRIME LOG
• November 26th at 4:50 a.m. a black male suspect jumped over
the pharmacy counter of the CVS Pharmacy, 8021 Watson, and
stole one or two bottles of cough syrup with codeine. The suspect was last seen leaving in a brown or tan SUV.
• November 27th at 12:01 a.m., a police officer observed a vehicle
in the area of Sherwood and W. Lockwood stopped with the
driver slumped at the wheel. During the investigation, the officer smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. The officer discovered drugs and drug paraphernalia in
the vehicle. The driver was arrested and charged
• November 28th at 12:10 a.m. someone broke the rear window of
a parked vehicle in the 100 block of S. Rock Hill and stole 2 six
packs of beer from the vehicle.
• November 28th at 11:58 a.m. the victim was working on the roof
of a home in the first block of Algonquin Lane when he was
assaulted by two suspects. The assault is possibly related to an
incident that occurred in St. Charles. Police have identified persons of interest and are investigating.
Provided by the Webster Groves
Police Department
CAMPUS
CRIME LOG
Nov. 24
Assault
535 Garden (Outside)
Two students had an
altercation.
Closed - Referred to
Webster Groves Police
Nov. 24
Motor Vehicle Theft
Parking Garage
Vehicle was taken without
permission.
Closed - Referred to
Webster Groves Police
Dec. 3 - Dec. 17, 2015
Student chains cinderblock to ankle
Vaughn Davis says he is displaying the weight black students carry
By Livie Hall
Opinions Editor
The sound of stone grinding
against cement in almost perfect
rhythm is heard around campus
as junior Vaughn Davis walks to
his classes. The grinding echoes
as a 28 pound cinder block awkwardly trails behind him.
Davis looks left, right, then
left again before crossing Edgar Road. He reaches behind
him and grabs what looks like
a chained leash. The chain attaches his right leg to the cinder
block, and he sweats as he drags
it wherever he goes.
“I’ve been researching performance speeches in solidarity
with the issues that have been
going on, mainly worldwide,”
Davis said. “Racism. I’m attempting to visually show the
weight a black student carries
with them, or any student of
color, on a daily basis.”
As Davis walks, the cinder
block does not easily obey. It
catches on the lip between two
sidewalk tiles and he yanks the
weight until it finally succumbs.
On the second day of his
four-day endeavor, Davis found
a helper. Junior Sean Peterman,
a fellow art student, said he saw
Davis in the art building working on ceramics.
“I walked into a room and
I saw Vaughn with this chain
and this brick on his leg and it
made me smile,” Peterman said.
“I knew this was something that
would just get to people, make
them think about things.”
Peterman said he did not
immediately think the performance art was about race. He
said everybody has struggles
and he would want some help
himself, so why not return the
favor. .
At Webster, Davis said there
are a lot of great, kind people.
While the feedback he has received has been both positive
and negative, he said he is happy
his art is creating conversation.
He is hearing positive feedback
to his face, but knows the negatives have been solely on social
media.
“[The negative remarks] are
speaking to colorblind racism.
Colorblind racism is the idea
that we believe that we don’t
see color, that we are in a postracial world, that everything is
alright,” Davis said.
Enrollment
FROM PAGE 1
Webster closed three campuses due to the shortfall.
In a February article of The
Journal, Julian Schuster said
Webster’s business model had
to change after three consecutive years of financial shortfalls.
Julian Schuster said the university would have to develop new
programs to raise enrollment.
In the same article, Webster
Chief Financial Officer Greg
Gunderson said some of the
university’s expenses are offset
by offering fewer courses and
Staff
Writers
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LIVIE HALL / The Journal
Webster student Vaughn Davis walks around campus with a cinder block chained to his leg. Davis said his display is performance art to show the weight black students carry with them every day.
Davis said he never expected his art to get as much attention as it has, and he has welcomed the positive words from
students on campus. Vaughn
said even after the cinderblock
comes off, he will continue
walking to every class, still pulling the weight.
However, it is not just about
racism. Davis said anybody
could find something to represent what is holding them back
and weighing them down.
Physically, Davis said he is
tired, and that is where Peterman swooped in to help. Peterman said even though he should
be doing schoolwork at the moment, he would rather help his
friend carry his weight. It is on
the rougher days you need to
help somebody, he said. He has
known Davis for a few years and
when Peterman saw what he
was doing, he knew it was something special.
“This is something he’s doing for society, and it just instantly filled me with joy,” Peterman said.
Mentally, Davis needs no
assistance. He said the piece is
about the world, not just one
group of people. It is about everyone that needs help and people do not have enough conversations about the reason behind
what he is doing.
“I love conversations with
people. I love to challenge people’s minds and vice-versa,” Davis said. “I want people to challenge my beliefs.”
After the first hour, Davis
said his leg was somewhat sore
and he was a bit tired, but felt
fine otherwise. So fine, in fact,
that he pulled the weight until
Wednesday before break start-
ed. He said he was acting as one
and not as a form of protest.
Davis walked away with Peterman right at his side, carrying the block. The chain rattles
with each movement he makes.
Davis said people have been
taking pictures and videos of
him, just in the two days since
he began. He continues on, either with the block dragging
loudly behind him, or with the
help of his friend.
“On a day-to-day basis,
you can probably handle your
own struggles, but that one day
[where others are struggling],
those are the days you need to
help somebody,” Peterman said.
hiring fewer adjuncts. He also
said cuts made to Webster’s
schools submitted by the deans
made a major difference in the
budget.
School of Communications
faculty member Joe Schuster
said Webster should focus on
cultivating the strong programs
that already exist at the university.
“The answers can’t always
be to build something new,” Joe
Schuster said. “Developing new
programs is always important,
but it can’t be the only thing we
do.”
Williams said balance is
needed for new and old programs.
“I don’t see it as an either/or
situation. If you look at the history of higher education, there
are certain things that have been
seen as constant,” Williams said.
“There are other things that
clearly change like computer
science, film and graphic design.”
Enrollment figures are made
publicly available on the Electronic Municipal Market Access
website. The site allows investors to look at financial filings
and keep track of significant
developments in their holdings.
Webster uploaded the document on Nov. 11.
According to a November
article in the Washington Post,
enrollment numbers in the
United States have fallen steadily
since 2008. Reportedly, enrollment rates for all income levels
have decreased in that time.
Williams said the balance
between new and old problems
is difficult because the amount
of exposure the programs get do
not always seem to be equal.
Editor’s Note: The Journal
is allowed to attend Faculty Assembly upon agreement that no
faculty members who speak will
be directly quoted or attributed
to opinions without permission.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
News
Dec. 3 - Dec. 17, 2015
Page 3
Students come together for ‘It’s On Us’
Video aims to raise sexual harassment awareness on campus
By Livie Hall
Opinions Editor
Webster students Kelly Otto,
Kaylen Kress, Kara Parr and Jake
Thebeau created a Facebook page
two weeks ago asking for students
to come to the quad Nov. 19. A
year after the “It’s On Us” campaign began at Webster, Thebeau
said President Elizabeth Stroble’s
office commissioned the four to
direct and produce a video for
the website.
Thebeau said the video aims
to stop and prevent sexual harassment, as well as make people
aware of the problem on Webster’s campus.
On the sunny, chilly afternoon, around 100 students gathered on the quad at 2 p.m. Under
the direction of Otto and Thebeau, participants huddled together in their jackets, smiles on
their faces. On the count of three,
they looked up at the cameras
and yelled, “it’s on us,” followed
by cheers.
A drone flew over the group
with a GoPro attached to it. Once
more the group yelled, but this
time it was “it’s on Webster University.”
Otto said video is the way
she communicates with people.
She said if people could watch
this video and just learn about
the cause, it would open up their
eyes.
Associate Vice President and
Chief Communications Officer
of Global Marketing and Communications Barbara O’Malley
was one of the administration
members who joined in, along
with Director of Public Relations
Patrick Giblin. O’Malley said she
came out simply to support the
cause.
“It’s great to be here to support the students,” O’Malley said.
After the video had been shot
and the crew started to pack up,
Otto said some people left while
others stayed to chat. A few participants told her they were happy the four were doing this and
wondered what the next project
would be.
While Otto said she hopes
there will be a future project, it is
all just talk right now. Otto said
the people they interviewed for
the “It’s On Us” video were all
happy to be a part of the piece.
Participants were asked to read
statistics, but they were also encouraged to give their own message about sexual harassment.
“This is your face, this is your
video. You’re not an actress or
an actor. What do you want to
tell Webster?” Otto said. “People
came up with wonderful, really
heartfelt things to put out there.”
Thebeau said he would be
working on editing the video
over winter break, and it will be
ready to roll in January on the
university’s website.
LIVIE HALL / The Journal
TOP: Student Jake Thebeau leads students in chanting “it’s on us” for the video for the sexual awareness campaign. He said the video will be ready for the spring
semester. BOTTOM: Faculty, staff and students gather in the quad to participate in the video.
“We’re going to put [the video] on YouTube. Honestly, we’re
going to try to put as many eyes
on it as we possibly can,” Thebeau
said.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
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Opinions
Dec. 3 - Dec. 17, 2015
Politickin’
me off
When someone
needs help, you
help them: the
Syrian refugee
crisis in America
Livie Hall
Opinions Editor
& Social Media
Manager
One of the more popular political debates right now is the Syrian
refugee crisis. Our country is divided
with some wanting to accept refugees
and others who are strongly against
doing so. Call me crazy, but I see
nothing wrong with allowing people
into our country when they have nowhere else to go.
I have heard from many people
I know say we cannot let Syrians in
because the Islamic State (ISIS) will
disguise themselves as refugees and
invade our country to attack us. Unfortunately, recent November articles
from USA Today, the New York Post
and TIME all say ISIS is a huge threat
to the United States.
However, there is a major difference between ISIS and Syrian refugees: ISIS needs mental assistance
and Syrians need real and immediate
assistance.
A Nov. 16 article from CNN said
the Republican party is slamming
Obama on his willingness to accept
refugees. Before the Paris attacks even
happened, a Sept. 11 article from the
New York Times reported that Obama
told his administration to accept
10,000 Syrian refugees over the next
year. While this is an example of the
twisted Republican opinion, I would
like to applaud him on his hospitable
agenda.
Now, why should he be doing
this? A September article from the
Washington Post worded the crisis
perfectly when they said, “The problem isn’t that the United States and
European governments aren’t doing
enough to help Syrians – they’re doing much too much to block them
from coming here.” Even though
Obama is firm in his stance, there
are still far too many people out there
who disagree with him.
The same article quoted a 2013
International Labor Survey whose results showed Syrians in Lebanon had
a wide range of skills. If someone has
skills, they can probably do a job. If
we create more jobs in America, we
can have a better economy. Notice I
said create. These refugees will not
and are not looking to take our jobs
away from us and rearrange the system we have. These poor people simply want a life.
As far as ISIS, they are a band of
crazy people. I say “crazy” because I
cannot use the language I would like
to. This is a group of horrific terrorists who have no real reason to do
what they are doing.
They are the bully you had in high
school and the way you fight them is
to kill them with kindness. It may be
cliche, but there are more of us than
there are of them.
Syrian refugees are people who
are forced to flee their country for
any chance of survival. How many
pictures of dead people washing
ashore do we have to see before we realize what true desperation is? These
people are willing to literally dive
into certain death than risk their lives
in their own homes.
There is no harm to be done if
they come to our country. For those
that disagree: get cultured. Read a
book, make some friends and have
a conversation. Make sure you know
what you are talking about before you
open your mouth.
When someone needs help, you
help them. We are lucky enough to
live in a country where we never really have to worry about our safety
- and never on the level of Syrians.
After all, this is America. In case
anyone has forgotten, our country started with immigrants. I am
German and English with Iranian,
Omani, Japanese and South American friends.
We all come from different backgrounds. As much as that phrase is
driven into the ground, you would
think the message would have gotten
across by now. America is a melting
pot and a refuge. Now, more than
ever, is the time to live up to that image.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Illustration by Amber Williams
Safe spaces: are they really what Webster needs?
Yes, but the students body needs to speak to administration as one
Sara Bannoura
Contributing
Writer
The idea of student
unity is all that
came to my mind
after reading the list of demands set
by the Association of African-American Collegians (AAAC) and attending the Let’s Talk: Diversity and Inclusion event held Tuesday, Nov. 24.
Since the AAAC’s list of demands
is set to serve the students, it should
be presented by the student body as
a whole, not just them. This will be
a stronger message when all students
stand together to create a difference.
It is true that we are all different
and some of us face harder times on
campus than the rest, but we are still
the same. Where we come from and
the color of our skin may differ, but
underneath the flesh, we are one.
Racism does exist in Webster University and will not disappear overnight. For change to occur, we need to
work together to correct the wrongs
and create a safer place for each and
every one of us.
There is always going to be people
who practice racism, discrimination
and hatred. It is the ones who see the
ugliness of these actions who have a
job to open the eyes of those who do
not know any better.
A class on diversity could be a first
step of putting thoughts into actions.
What is even more important though,
is that it should not be another class
where students attend and then move
on to the next.
I humbly suggest it to be an active
class, where students themselves take
part in thinking and coming up with
practical solutions that actually allow change to take part of their daily
lives.
One of the goals of the Let’s Talk
event was to have a respectful and
an educational conversation. I think
this is what we, the students, should
ask from the Webster administration,
for a constructive conversation where
questions will be answered and goals
will be achieved.
In order for this to happen, I think
all students need to meet, converse
and set a plan.
This should be a meeting that
does not just include the “Large Five,”
(Student Government Association,
AAAC, Commuter Council, Residential Housing Association and the
International Student Association) as
they are called, but representatives of
all who want to see change take place.
The students have more power than
they realize.
Since the problem concerns people
in general, the case of Webster also
includes faculty and staff too. After
all, they, as well as students, are the
ones who make up this institution. I
suggest the Webster administration
hold an annual diversity workshop
where they meet and spread awareness of how important it is to accept
and respect one another despite our
differences.
After all, teachers are leaders to the
new generations. When a student attends college, it is expected for them
to learn and grow every day. The case
should not be for the student to leave
college still being the same person
when he or she first registered.
How is it that the students will
grow and be proactive members of
society if they are facing discrimination and rejection from the people
they look up to and face every day of
their college experience?
All of us - students and administration should work together handin-hand to bring understanding,
peace and justice. As Sting puts it,
“There are no victories in all our histories, without love.”
As human beings, we should come
together and help build each other up
instead of being destructive to our
own humanity.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
No, they are not - the real world is not a safe space for anyone
Daniel
Carcione
Staff Writer
On Thursday, Nov.
12, the Association
of African-American
Collegians
(AAAC) presented a list of 19 demands to Webster University administration. The tenth demand called
for the creation of “safe spaces” for
black students on campus. The idea
of established safe spaces are becoming a wildly popular concept on the
more liberal college campuses for fear
of hurting someone’s feelings. While
that might be the most comfortable
solution, it might also be the most
damaging.
The group Advocates for Youth
defines safe spaces as a place where
anyone can relax and be fully self-expressed, without fear of being made
to feel uncomfortable, unwelcome or
challenged on account of biological
sex, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,
cultural background, age, or physical
or mental ability; a place where the
rules guard each person’s self-respect,
dignity and feelings and strongly encourage everyone to conform to majority opinions.
Racism is a problem the world
seems unable to overcome. Students
at Webster, to their credit, are making great strides in creating an open
dialogue for all people to air their
grievances in a respectful and open
atmosphere.
Creating safe spaces for any race,
however, is not progression. I believe
it does the exact opposite by hindering students and coddling them like
children. It is essentially segregating
your race while doing nothing to relieve the tensions that clearly exist.
This point is underlined in the wording of the demands by the AAAC specifically aimed at black students: “We
demand the creation of safe spaces for
black students on campus by Spring
2017.”
The real world is an incredibly
cruel place. The real world does not
care about your past, your insecurities or your beliefs. Whether this is
because of a history of institutionalized racism or some other reason
does not change this fact. There are
no safe spaces for adults to go where
they do not have to worry about their
feelings being hurt, because that just
is not how society works. The only
safe space a person really has is the
place they sleep at night and inside
their own head.
It may seem a bit cliché to quote
a television show, but one line from
a South Park episode really hit the
nail on the head. A character named
Reality says to a large assembly “I’m
sorry, the world is not one big liberal
arts college campus.” Students can attempt to shelter themselves all they
want, but do not expect reality to cater to what you think is fair.
Society in America is comprised
of people with radically different
backgrounds coming together, and
sometimes those differences create
conflict. It can be uncomfortable and
cause stress, but that is the way the
world works. You cannot run away
from your problems and attempt to
shut out anything that makes you up-
set. The only real way to survive these
conflicts and thrive in this environment is to develop a thick skin and
deal with it.
The answer is not to segregate
yourselves by creating a space where
no dissenting opinions are allowed.
Coming to college is meant to be
an introduction to the way the real
world works. At Webster, students
from across the country come together to learn and interact as they
mature. These people are confronted
with the varied upbringings of their
peers as they gain a deeper understanding of the full impact of becoming an adult. Creating a space devoid
of those dissenting opinions is the
equivalent of a child covering their
ears and loudly proclaiming “La la la,
I can’t hear you.”
In order to grow as individuals, we
must face these tensions together. We
all need to be forced into uncomfortable conversations so that people of
all races can be confronted with their
own prejudices.
Everybody has them whether they
want to admit it or not, and I believe
every single person should be called
out for them, including me. Having
our character flaws pointed out to us
is how we learn to grow and how we
truly learn to live together in understanding. I do not want delicate sensibilities to hold me back from being
confronted with the truth of reality,
and neither should you.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Opinions
Dec. 3- Dec. 17, 2015
Page 5
Letters to the Editor
A letter to President Stroble
By David Kirkman, Webster University student
President Beth Stroble of Webster
University:
First of all, thank you for taking
the time to read this. As you probably
already know, what I am about to talk
about is going to be very sensitive and a
very tough subject to talk about. I am a
20-year-old African-American student
here, currently in my junior year pursuing my bachelor’s in film production.
It is my hope to inspire, empower and
entertain through the medium of film
very soon.
With all that is happening at other
universities around the nation regarding justice, racism, privilege and protests such as the Million Student March,
one cannot help but wonder where
Webster University stands on issues
like these. Events such as the one that
recently happened at Mizzou, which is
only two hours driving distance away,
should cause us to look at the condition
of our school as an institution and the
condition of our students.
Now, we are one of the more liberal
schools in the Midwest, however, attaching the word “liberal” that speaks
to the culture and atmosphere here
means nothing really. When the word
“liberal” is attached to a school such
as this, all it means is that Webster attempts to help foster an open-minded
atmosphere. But with all that has come
to light in recent events, being openminded is not enough.
Flip on any news station and you
will see the current state of my generation. Specifically with college students,
on a national scale we owe roughly $1.3
trillion in student loans. U.S. News reports that the average college student
will graduate with nearly $30,000 in
debt. Mind you, this is all while on the
search for a nice paying job our degree
is supposed to benefit us with.
So the question we must tackle is:
What can Webster do moving forward
to help make the best college experience possible? We are not talking about
more dances or more free food (although more free food would be awesome) or more new buildings that need
to be constructed.
We are talking about whether or
not yourself and the administration are
even listening to the voices and concerns of the student body. It is to my
understanding that you do meet with
key leaders of some organizations, but
most of these meetings are either created last minute, which does not give the
students proper prep time, or the meet-
ings are delayed multiple times, which
speaks to the overall seriousness of the
meetings. I have heard these allegations
on a consistent basis from some of the
major organizations here on our main
campus.
According to a December 2011 article from our school newspaper, The
Journal, your nearly-million dollarhome is paid for through the school
and an April 2015 article reported that
in 2013 you received $500,174 in total
compensation, including a $75,000 bonus. Together, you and Provost Julian
Schuster in 2013 received more than
$850,000 in combined total compensation.
I am not throwing that out there
to make you feel bad or to personally
attack you, but hopefully you come to
understand that while we are paying to
attend here and contributing to those
numbers, the least you can do is listen to what we have to say. Do not just
hear us, because there is a difference
between hearing someone and listening to someone. Listening will not only
have one take notice of what someone
has to say, but ultimately act on what
one has said.
I believe Webster has the potential
to be the global community we always
advertise about. I just saw an advertisement of Webster’s chess team on a billboard downtown on the highway, and
on it in bold yellow reads, “A Global
Community.” Our marketing team
places a huge emphasis on creating a
global community.
Well, let us start building a better
community right here on our main
campus. Let us start being transparent about what is actually going on.
Let us start having the tough discussions about white privilege, racism,
discrimination and how we can make
the student body aware of the realities
that many of our peers are having to
struggle with on a daily basis.
Healthy dialogue, I believe, will
begin to break down barriers that will
hinder any progress or growth that is
needed for Webster to be all that it can
be for the students. All we need is for
someone to listen.
Thanks for your time.
Send a letter to the editor:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Illustration by Sarah Blankenship
Webster needs a service-learning office for students
By Robert McMullen, Webster University adjunct professor
As I was reviewing my Keystone
class and preparing to teach it in the
spring, I realized that I would need to
help my students find volunteer opportunities since Webster Works is only in
the fall.
I searched the Internet for volunteer opportunities and found that St.
Louis University and Washington University both had excellent websites to
guide students to volunteer and advocacy opportunities throughout the St.
Louis area.
I also found a site for Fontbonne
University and St. Louis Community
College not only offered a guide to
many kinds of service, but also a Semester of Service Certificate.
Our university provides students
with many types of quality learning
experiences on the main campus and
throughout the world. But perhaps
there needs to be more of a commitment to volunteering and service learning. Our students have the skills to enrich the St. Louis community.
I must admit that I have a special
interest in volunteering. When I was
a university student, I had the opportunity to volunteer as a tutor in a lowincome community. This experience
lead to a year in Volunteers in Service
to America and a change to a fulfilling
career as an elementary teacher. Moreover, I will never forget the lessons I
learned from the young boys I tutored,
Rolando and Alex.
I realize that there are already some
options for service, like tutoring and
a service-learning course. However,
a service-learning office is needed on
campus to empower our students to
fully engage in meaningful and life
changing volunteer opportunities.
Send a letter to the editor:
websterjournal@gmail.com
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Sports
Page 6
Dec. 3 - Dec. 17, 2015
Webster above NCAA average for coaching diversity
Webster University 3.8 percent better than the national average in diversity demographics
By Jacob Claspille
Sports Editor
After the list of demands of the
Association for African American
Collegians was sent to the school
administration, race is a topic of
discussion on the Webster University campus, including in the
school athletic department.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) states
on its website that it is “committed
to diversity, inclusion and gender
equity among its student athletes,
coaches and administrators. We
seek to establish and maintain an
inclusive culture that fosters equitable participation for student
athletes and career opportunities for coaches and administrators from diverse backgrounds.
Diversity and inclusion improve
the learning environment for all
student-athletes and enhance excellence within the association.”
The Institute for Diversity
and Ethics in Sports (TIDES) at
the University of Central Florida
(UCF) conducted its Racial and
Gender Report Card for 2014.
College reports received a lower
grade than in 2013 (C+) because
institutions worsened for gender
hiring practices and racial hiring
practices.
In 2014, 91.3 percent of head
coaches in Division III (DIII)
were white. That was 0.4 percent
better than the previous year (91.7
percent). 4.8 percent of men’s
head coaches and 4.2 percent of
women’s head coaches were filled
by African-Americans.
In 2014, African-American
coaches in men’s collegiate athletics were less than the percentage
of women head coaches in men’s
Total Coaches (Head Coaches and Assistant Coaches)
Graphic by AMBER WILLIAMS
sports (5.1 versus 4.8 percent).
The percentage of assistant
coaches in DIII that were white,
increased from the previous year
(85.6 to 85.9 percent). Both Division II and Division I had a
decrease in their white assistant
coaches and were at a lower rate
than Division III already, 75.6 and
73.7 respectively.
SLIAC vs. the nation
Webster University is a part of
the St. Louis Intercollegiate Ath-
letic Conference (SLIAC). The
NCAA demographic database
showed that the SLIAC conference had a lower percentage (90.4
percent) than the national average
in the percentage of white head
coaches and above average for
African-American head coaches
(9.6 percent).
SLIAC was also below the national average for DIII in white assistant coaches with 82.4 percent.
Again, the conference was above
average for African-American
assistant coaches (11.8 percent)
compared to the DIII average (8.2
percent).
Webster University comparison
According to Webster University’s human resources webpage, “the mission of the Human
Resource Department is to serve
as the link between prospective
employees and the institution
in an attempt to recruit and hire
the most qualified individuals,
without regard to race, age, sex
or disability, for any position vacancy within the university community.”
Scott Kilgallon, athletic director at Webster University, said
with the hiring process, he would
prefer to create a search committee. The search committee would
consist of staff members in the
athletic department and one or
two student athletes from the
team that the new coach would be
hired to lead.
Kilgallon said he would prefer for the coaches to come onto
campus during the hiring process
to meet with the team to see if
they are not only a good fit for the
team, but for the campus as well.
Currently, Kilgallon has yet
to make any new hires onto the
coaching staff since he took the
job in April 2014.
As of this year, Webster’s
coaching staff is 87.5 percent
white, below the DIII average and
the SLIAC average.
“We are pretty good, compared to others,” Kilgallon said.
“It can always get better… We’ve
been in a unique situation that we
haven’t had movement. We’ve got
good coaches here.”
However, race does not play a
role in the hiring process for the
athletic coaches.
“At the end of the day, you’re
looking for the best candidate, the
best person who is going to deliver a top-notch program for your
student athletes,” Kilgallon said.
Kilgallon said there is an absolute benefit to having a more
diverse coaching staff. The more
diverse the staff, the better chance
at getting recruits and the better
relationships the student athletes
have with the coaches.
“We have good coaches here
whose expectation is, no matter
what background somebody is,
that they’re working just as strong
with everybody,” Kilgallon said.
“That’s not just athletics too, what
we want is graduation and helping
develop young men and women.”
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Here’s the Thing: Facility capacity has reached tipping point
Appreciate greatness while it is still here
By Kevin Smith
Staff Writer There have only been two
years in my entire life without
either Peyton Manning or Kobe
Bryant playing professional
sports. I cannot remember a
time when Kobe was not a Laker, or Manning was not tossing
touchdowns to Marvin Harrison
or Demaryius Thomas. However
after this season, there will be no
more Kobe, and it seems like no
more Peyton either.
Both of these athletes have
been the face of their sport for
nearly two decades. Kobe came
into the NBA as a teenager with
an afro back in 1996. I was two
years old. If you do not count the
six games that he played in 201314, Bryant is averaging the lowest
amount of points since his sophomore campaign in the NBA.
His shooting percentage, 30 percent, is a full seven percent lower
than any year he has played.
Peyton came into the NFL
as a 22-year-old fresh out of the
University of Tennessee back
in 1998. If you do not count the
2011 season when he missed the
whole season with a neck injury,
this is the first time in Peyton’s
career he will not play all 16
games. He has only thrown nine
touchdowns on the season, 17
less than any other year. He has
thrown 17 interceptions, a total
he only reached three times in a
whole 16 game season.
This whole season, both Manning and Bryant have been getting criticized for their poor play.
I am not saying they have an excuse to play bad, but we need to
remember them for their whole
career, and not just this season.
Just five years ago, Bryant averaged 28 points a game, good
for second in the league. Just two
years ago, Manning set the single
season record for most touchdowns. It seemed like they could
play forever.
The reality is, any athlete’s
time is limited in their sport.
There will be a day when Tom
Brady is no longer playing football. A day is coming even sooner when Tim Duncan and Kevin
Garnett retire.
The 2015 season that Kobe
Bryant and Peyton Manning
have, will not and should not
define who they are as athletes.
Kobe is probably the second best
shooting guard to ever play the
game (I still think Michael Jordan is better). Peyton Manning
may be the best regular season
quarterback of all time (he just
has not had the playoff success
to be considered the best of all
time).
The world of sports is very
much a “what have you done for
me recently” atmosphere. Why
else would there be talk of firing
Les Miles as the head football
coach at Louisiana State University, despite winning 77 percent
of his games there? Why else
was Mark Richt be fired as the
head football coach at Georgia,
despite going 145-51, and going
to 15 straight bowl games?
I can understand this mentality, but it is not fair to the
greatness of Kobe Bryant and
Peyton Manning. I owe both
of them for part of the reason I
am interested in sports. When it
comes to the NBA and the NFL,
it is always been Bryant and
Manning in my lifetime. When
their careers are debated several
years down the road, it is unfair
to say, “but they had a terrible final season.” It is unfair to minimize their greatness.
Kobe no longer has “the legs”
to make jump shots. He does not
have any more athleticism. That
is the result of nearly 50,000 career minutes played. How can
you can use one season in an
argument against his greatness?
It is because of his greatness and
longevity in the league that he
no longer has anything left in
the tank.
Peyton no longer has the arm
strength to make the throws. He
does not have the ability to get
the ball to the places he wants.
That is the result of nearly
10,000 career throws. How can
you can use one season in an
argument against his greatness?
It is because of his greatness and
longevity in the league that he
no longer has anything left in
the tank.
When I look back at the career of Bryant, I will see Kobe
ranked third all-times in points
scored. I will see him as a two
time scoring champion, and a
17-time all-star. I will see him
with five NBA Championships.
When I look back at the career of Manning, I will see Peyton ranked first all-time in yards
and touchdowns. I will see him
as a five time NFL Most Valuable Player, and a 14-time pro
bowler. I will see him with one
Super Bowl Ring.
I will see their greatness.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Washington University sets the bar with recreational facility expansion
By Jacob Claspille
Sports Editor
The idea of a gym expansion at Webster University
was brought up at this year’s
Delegates’ Agenda. It failed
to receive the necessary votes
needed to be presented in
front of the school administration, but the issue of a lack
of athletic facility space still
remains.
Washington University is
currently midway through
construction on the expansion
of the Gary M. Sumers Recreation Center. Construction on
the 60,000 square ft. expansion began May 19, 2014, and
is expected to be finished in
August of 2016, according to
bearsports.wustl.edu.
According to the Washington University athletics
webpage, the expansion will
include a suspended jogging
track, a three-court gymnasium, two multipurpose rooms,
a spinning studio, state-ofthe-art fitness equipment,
team locker rooms, team
meeting rooms, offices and a
sports medicine suite.
Both Josh Whitman, athletic director at Washington
University, and Scott Kilgallon, athletic director at Webster University, agreed that
each school experiences the
issue of a “landlocked” campus.
“We have a very defined
footprint,” Whitman said. “I
applaud our administration
because they have looked for
opportunities to expand when
they can through purchase of
real estate.”
Whitman said that both
Washington University and
University of Wisconsin-La
Crosse (his previous institution) are “landlocked” and believed it was a willingness to
engage with colleagues to put
all ideas on the table to problem-solve the situation.
The expansion is to take the
design as the rest of the buildings on campus.
“[The building] has kind
of a textual theme. There are
certain qualities that all the
buildings exhibit,” Whitman
said.
Student body benefit
The Gary M. Sumers Recreation Center is already a
building on the Washington
University campus that is being expanded. Whitman said
they wanted to honor the his-
“
Our university has invested a lot of time
and energy and resources into enhancing
the student life experience.
Josh Whitman
”
Washington University Athletic Director
tory of the structure, but also
modernize the facilities and
make them more meaningful
for today’s student body.
The entire recreational
center is planned to be used
for both the university athletic program and the student
body. Whitman estimated that
around 75 percent of the usage
will be by the student body.
“The driver for [the expansion] was for the recreational
component for our student
body,” Whitman said. “Our
university has invested a lot of
time and energy and resources
into enhancing the student life
experience.”
To go along with the updates for the residence halls,
the dining services and the
university’s new student center, Whitman said one of the
missing components was a viable fitness center.
Currently, the athletics programs at Washington University share the workout facilities
with the student body, much
like Webster University. Whitman says that the expanded
area would most likely transition into the student body
area, while the current facilities would be used solely by
the athletic program.
“There have been a lot of
academic studies that show a
correlation between the success of an athletic program and
the perception of the quality of
the university,” Whitman said.
“We very much consider our
athletics to be the front porch
to a university. We think it allows us to tell a good story in
terms of the types of students
we have, the type of culture
that we’re trying to create.”
Athletic benefits
Whitman said he hopes the
improvements with the fitness
center will also help recruitment for the athletic teams.
“I hope it’s a huge advantage
in recruiting,” Whitman said.
“I think that it shows a level
of support from the university
for our athletic program. It excites our current student athletes who are, most of the time,
our best recruiters… Anything
that gets them excited ultimately gets passed down to the
recruits.”
Whitman insists that the
main goal of the expansion
was for more the student body
than for athletics. He said he
believes the 18-23 year old age
range, especially on a college
campus, is a time for students
to make bad dietary decisions.
With things like not enough
sleep, eating unhealthy foods
and the consumption of too
much alcohol, Whitman hopes
that the fitness center would
help create a better alternative
and a healthier environment
on campus.
The need for expansion
In 2009, Webster University’s athletic program had 192
student athletes. Last year, that
number grew to 281, and there
are currently over 300 student
athletes this year.
Kilgallon said he believes
the university has reached the
tipping point where discussions need to be started on the
idea of an expansion.
“We are simply over capacitated in [the UC gym],”
Kilgallon said. “You can walk
through here and see [strength
and conditioning] coach Saitz
working people out in the hallway.”
One of the struggles the
athletic program has with the
lack of space is that the gymnasium is multipurpose. It is
used for athletic events, but
it is also used for admission
events, such as banquets.
Kilgallon does not want
more facilities just for the student athletes, but the students
in general. He notes that intramural athletics are big on campus and the students that are
not in school athletics need a
place to go workout.
“It’s just as important to
have facilities for students that
are not in organized intercollegiate sports,” Kilgallon said.
“It would be nice for someone
to be able to go shoot hoops
when they want or have a
larger weight room and those
types of things.”
Currently, the university
rents off-campus facilities for
most of its athletics uses. The
soccer park and the home
baseball field for the Gorloks
have been contractually agreed
upon for use by Webster University.
Facilities beginning to grow
The school has agreed to
a contract with the St. Louis
Sports Center, located just off
Heege Road on Langley Avenue in Affton, to allow the
softball and baseball teams to
use their building for indoor
workouts.
Webster University is close
to reaching a deal with an organization for usage of a track,
according to Kilgallon. He said
the growth of the team, almost
60 student athletes, has made
a pressing need for their own
facilities.
The NCAA released a publication stating that 67 percent of student athletes would
not attend a college without
the recruiting of the coaches.
Webster University actually
exceeds this number. Currently, 90 percent of the student
athletes at the university were
recruited by the coaches.
Kilgallon said that during
the recruiting process, students decide on where they are
going to play five minutes after
seeing the facilities.
“When we are recruiting, we
are typically competing against
two or three other schools,”
Kilgallon said. “[Facilities] are
a hugely important component
of the recruiting process… It is
so critical.”
Financial standstills
Financially, Kilgallon said
the budget is tight and to compare an expansion to Washington University’s is difficult
because of the large amount
of donations Washington University received. He does agree
that the fundamentals are all
the same, though.
“[The administration] recognizes they need to keep upgrading to compete with who
they play against,” Kilgallon
said.
The Webster athletic department is optimistic that the
issue of lack of space will be
solved, if not through expansion, with new off-campus facilities.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Lifestyle
Dec. 3- Dec. 17, 2015
Page 7
‘Let’s do the time warp again’
LGBTQ Alliance to perform Rocky Horror Picture Show separate from the Conservatory
By Gabriela Medrano
Contributing Writer
Webster University’s LGBTQ Alliance wanted to throw
a production all students could
participate in. The Conservatory
Program holds several plays and
musicals throughout the year,
but those are exclusive to those
pursuing a degree in theater
performance and production.
The alliance will present
Rocky Horror Picture Show at the
Emerson Studio Theatre in the
Loretto-Hilton Center Dec. 5.
LGBTQ President Josh Tyler told his friend Daniel Brake
the club wanted to put on Rocky
Horror.
Brake’s passion for directing
led him to ask to be a director
for the project.
“[We want] to be able to
have the opportunity to do fun
musicals that you wouldn’t be
able to do unless you were in the
conservatory,” Brake said. “We
want to provide that [opportunity] for everyone because it’s a
really good service and we feel
like it could really take off.”
From there, Brake added
Jordan Zachow who, in high
school, participated in theater.
Zachow, a psychology major,
knew pursuing theater in college
was not an option for her. However, Zachow wanted to still participate in productions.
“Now [that] I’m here I’m
doing what I love. I’m back as
stage manager, assistant director extraordinaire,” Zachow
said. “People who wouldn’t get
a chance to do [theater] are
able to get back on stage and do
something that they love.”
Choreographer and jazz
vocal major Dominique Price
knew he would not have trained
dancers like a conservatory production would, but he used the
diverse group to his advantage.
He made the choreography
about the movement rather than
technique.
“It’s all about the shimmy
shimmy shake, the boom boom
pow, with the butt,” Price said. “I
would say it inspires the freedom
of movement in that I didn’t want
to make the choreography so difficult that it was unintelligible for
people who aren’t dancers. It’s exciting because of the energy put
behind it.”
The production was not
without its share of challenges.
Auditions were held the week
after fall break and rehearsals
began the first week of November.
The entire production
had to be perfected in a little
more than a month. Rehearsals
ranged from four times a week
to seven times a week and, due
to the students’ busy schedules,
rehearsals were at night from
9:30 p.m. until midnight. Brake
said the hard work is worth it for
the Dec. 5 show.
“It’s amazing to see just how
far this group has gone in just a
little over a month,” Brake said.
Brake, Zachow and Price
hope that plays outside of the
conservatory continue for years
to come. The ultimate goal is to
have a production available to
everyone each semester.
“I think it’s an egregious
mistake that there is not a production for the student body to
audition for and to be a part of
to create some art,” Price said. “I
think that is wrong, so this is a
great project we are doing and
we are making a big statement.”
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
MIRANDA KENNY / The Journal
Choreographer Dominique Price runs the cast of Rocky Horror Picture Show through a warm-up in the Emerson Library Conference Room Nov. 24. The
performance will take place Dec. 5 in the Loretto-Hilton Center.
MIRANDA KENNY / The Journal
The cast of the LGBTQ Alliance’s Rocky Horror Picture Show practices songs with musical director Gabi Anderson (right) in the East Academic Building.
Page 8
Lifestyle
Dec. 3 - Dec. 17, 2015
Lost in the City of Parks
Fenton pop-punk band releases its debut album, Don’t Worry, I’ll Be Fine
By Bill Loellke
Lifestyle Editor
The four members of poppunk band City of Parks remember performing their first
gig for 10 people when they
formed. Halfway through their
first year as a band, they performed at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in Maryland
Heights along with other rock
bands at Pointfest.
Now, they are celebrating
the release of their first studio
album and are ready once again
to compete in order to perform
at next year’s Pointfest.
City of Parks consists of
Webster University audio engineering major Joey Olszowy,
Missouri State graduate Brian
Grubb, Saint Louis University graduate Dan Grubb and
Blake Boyster, who calls himself “your typical definition of a
rock n’ roller.”
Beginnings
Boyster said he and the
Grubb brothers had known each
other for 10 years. Boyster said
he first met Olszowy while he
was performing for other bands
before City of Parks.
“Joey would show up at my
shows randomly,” Boyster said.
“I didn’t really know him, but
we became friends through
these shows.”
The idea of forming a band
came from Dan Grubb, who
started thinking about it two
years ago.
“I was writing songs for old
girlfriends,” Dan Grubb said. “I
had five songs and thought, ‘we
could start a band off of this’.”
He brought the idea to his
brother, Brian Grubb, who was a
drummer. Before City of Parks,
the Grubb brothers participated
in another band. City of Parks
originally started as the two of
them in mid-2013. Then they
started looking for a bassist,
which led them to Olszowy.
They performed as a threepiece until Olszowy moved to
playing guitar. It was then that
Olszowy approached Boyster
about becoming the new bassist. The four-piece that performs today was established in
August 2014.
Olszowy said the band’s
name is meant to pay homage to
their hometown of Fenton, Mo.
“On a lot of the signs around
Fenton, they say ‘[Welcome
to] Fenton: City of Parks,’” Olszowy said. “There are a lot of
parks around Fenton, some in
unlikely places, which gives it
that name.”
The songs Dan wrote were
acoustic songs. However, when
the Grubbs started the band,
they turned the songs into poppunk songs, adding electric guitar, bass and drums to the arrangements.
“It [pop-punk] is what we’ve
been listening to for a long
time,” Dan said.
The pop-punk bands that
influenced City of Parks’ style
include A Day to Remember,
Bayside, Alkaline Trio, Against
Me!, New Found Glory and
Senses Fail, to name a few.
Boyster said getting a brand
new band off the ground and
into the public eye starts by getting one’s own name out there,
going to shows to meeting other
bands and, eventually, performing alongside those bands at
their shows.
Pointfest
This past May, the band performed at Pointfest, the outdoor
rock music festival held once a
WIL DRISCOLL / The Journal
Local pop-punk band City of Parks perform material from their debut album, Don’t Worry, I’ll Be Fine, at The Demo in St. Louis. The performance marked
the album’s official release.
year by St. Louis rock station
105.7 The Point. It was held at
Hollywood Casino Amphitheater and featured rock bands
such as Breaking Benjamin and
Seether. The festival has been
around since 1993.
The band performed in the
Battle for Pointfest, a battle of
the bands competition for local
acts to try to get into the festival.
They won the pop-punk edition
of the battle and performed on
Pop’s Stage, one of four stages at
the festival.
“We worked really hard to
get there,” Boyster said.
Boyster said he was weary
about a battle for the bands competition when presented with
the idea, but the other members
wanted to give it a shot.
The next order of business
for City of Parks is to compete
once again to perform on the
Pointfest stage.
The big release
One of the band’s first goals
was to make a debut album. The
making of the album took a
year, with recording being done.
The album, Don’t Worry,
I’ll Be Fine, was released Nov.
27 with copies being sold at
The Demo, a rock bar located
in The Grove in St. Louis. They
debuted the album in a show
alongside bands Inimical Drive,
Monster Eats Manhattan and
Apollo’s Daughter.
Brian Grubbs performed as a piano-bar drummer before he joined City of Parks.
The album will eventually
be released on iTunes and other
online outlets. It contains 11
tracks written by members of
the band.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Brian Grubb said.
They worked with other
people when it came to mixing
the album, saying a lot of “back
and forth” happened to make
the album. The long process was
something that almost got to
them, especially on the first day
of recording. It took nine hours
to do one song.
“We went big,” Boyster said.
“We learned patience and we
just held on.”
The title of the album is
meant to signify an internal
struggle with oneself, the band
said. The title is a response given
to others who notice that struggle. A lot of the inspiration for
the album came from the original songs written by Dan Grubb.
“All of us have something
personal in this album,” Brian
Grubb said.
One of the songs, “026,”
was written by Olszowy about
his experiences and frustrations
growing up in Fenton. The lyrics deal with those frustrations,
especially the people he grew up
alongside.
“A lot of people who live in
Fenton, they despise it there,”
Olszowy said.
The song is meant to combat
those negative perceptions with
a more positive outlook on the
town, the band said.
Boyster said eventually, he
would like to take the band to
other cities around the nation.
“You can only do so much at
one town,” Boyster said.
Boyster said the popularity
the band achieved within its first
year went beyond expectations.
“We were going for a snowball, but what we did this year
was like an avalanche to us,”
Boyster said.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
WIL DRISCOLL / The Journal
WIL DRISCOLL / The Journal
Blake Boyster hits the floor as he goes crazy on his guitar. He played in other bands before joining City of Parks.
WIL DRISCOLL / The Journal
Dan Grubb (left) and Webster student Joey Olszowy (right) rock out on their guitars during their performance.