Opinion • Who Needs Pokemon Go When Birds Exist? Page 5
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Where Fiddles Strike Gold: Eileen Ivers Page 8
Sports • VOL. 53, ISSUE 14
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2026
INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Janelle Brown’s Comeback Story Page 16
Dolan’s 30 Under
20 YEARS OF HEART SAFETY
The Impact of the JTB Foundation on Fairfield 30: Milestones
and Aspirations By OLIVIA MARCEDA Head News Editor
Photo Contributed by Dave Babbitt
Dave and JoAnne Babbitt and their sons, John and Andrew. The JTB Foundation was created to honor the life of John, who passed away due to cardiac arrest.
By BRENNA BELASCO Associate News Editor A Heart Safe Campus: The Impact of the John Taylor Babbitt Foundation Fairfield University is generally regarded as an exceptionally safe campus. Not only is the university safe in the generic sense, but it’s also heart safe. Dave Babbitt, who graduated from Fairfield in 1979, spoke to the importance of heart safety and discussed his and his wife’s reasoning for creating the John Taylor Babbitt Foundation, in honor of their son, who passed away at age 16 in 2006. The foundation’s 20th anniversary is tomorrow, Feb. 26. He credits his time at Fairfield with providing him with much of his strength, and says that the university was, and has continued to be, immensely supportive of his family and the foundation. “After [he passed], they reached out…they just really made a big difference in my life.” John passed away from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, a common genetic heart condition, which causes the
left ventricular wall to abnormally thicken and stiffen, restricting blood flow. It affects roughly 1 in 500 people, often causing no symptoms, but can lead to sudden cardiac death, particularly in young athletes. “Within five months, five other boys passed away. Every time it happened [it felt like] it was happening to us over and over again, and we [said], ‘We can’t live our lives like this,’” Babbitt expressed. Thus, the John Taylor Babbitt Foundation was born. He claimed that his friends and family had an urge to help and energy that needed to be channeled somewhere. They wanted to be able to prevent tragedies from occurring for other families, while protecting their own. While getting their younger son, Andrew, screened for heart conditions, they met with doctors who were experts in sudden cardiac arrest. When asked how they could raise awareness about these conditions, the doctors had a unified response: “Get AEDs out in places of public assembly. You don’t have to be a doctor [or] a nurse, but if you get these out, you’re going to save lives.”
While the Babbitts were up to the task, they knew that others may not be. “Everybody was afraid of them and of the liability,” Babbitt said. “[They] could be sued if they used them and they didn’t have the certification.” To quell this fear, he said, they would need to get the Good Samaritan Law passed in New Jersey, their home state, which protects bystanders from civil liability when providing voluntary aid to others during medical emergencies. The bill was signed into law by Governor Chris Christie in May 2012. The JTB Foundation was “instrumental in that.” JoAnne and a group of students from high schools in their area travelled to Trenton, NJ, to plead their case, and they were successful, making New Jersey the 44th state to pass the law. The foundation also sponsored the CPR/AED in Schools Bill, requiring all New Jersey high school students to know how to give CPR and to use an AED. Their commitment to heart safety has led to donations of around 850 AEDs and to the training of over 8,000 individuals on how to properly use continued on page 3
The 2026 cohort of the 30 Under 30 program at the Charles F. Dolan School of Business was recently announced. Selected through a competitive process evaluating between societal impact, academic and professional development, this year’s honorees include seniors, juniors and Master of Business Administration (MBA) candidates. Their accomplishments span finance, analytics, marketing, entrepreneurship, athletics, and community engagement. MBA candidate Luke Maloney described the award as both humbling and energizing. “This recognition represents not only personal achievement, but also the mentors, professors, friends, and family members who have supported and challenged me along the way,” he said, noting Fairfield’s deep connection to his family’s legacy, “place deeply woven into my family’s story, with my grandfather, uncle, father, and brother all proud Stags.” MBA candidate Katherine Roberston called the honor a “confirmation that the work I put in over time mattered,” ref lecting on years of balancing academics, athletics, and internships. After serving as president of the women’s rugby team and captaining an All-Star national championship team while completing both her undergraduate degree and MBA, Roberston will attend Boston College Law to pursue a career in business law. For junior Natalie Teahan, the recognition affirms intentional balance. “It’s the act of doing these things in itself that has granted me fulfillment,” she said, emphasizing that her leadership in Women in Business, participation in service immersion in Belize, and investment banking experience were driven by purpose rather than resume building. Teahan credits Fairfield’s Jesuit values with shaping her perspective, particularly continued on page 3
History Dept. Makes ‘A Stand for History’ With America 250 Lecture Series By JULIAN NAZARIO Managing Editor
Julian Nazario/The Mirror
The lecture discussing elements of the American experiment has drew significant student interest, with approximately 50 students attending the first event of the semester.
Fairfield University’s History Department is drawing dozens of students each month to lectures in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Earlier this month, the department held the first lecture of the year on the foundation of civil rights, with about 50 students in attendance for a presentation by Dr. Shannon King, an associate professor and historian of the Black freedom struggle outside the South. In an interview with The Mirror, Dr. Patricia Behre, who is an associate professor of history and the chair of the History department, said that the series of conversations on American history comes from
a desire to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the country, but is also a way to “make a stand for history in general.” “We wanted to give students the experience of having the historians they know best, which is their classroom professors, explore American history with them in a very informal, friendly, public way,” Behre added. The events, all held at 5:30 p.m. on the lower level of the Barone Campus Center, have drawn large crowds. Last year, a lecture on Nov. 19 was so well attended that students were sitting on the floor and on a nearby staircase. According to Behre, the reception from other faculty members has been positive. “Faculty members have reported to me that the event has sparked good discussions in class the day after or within the week after, from their students who were there,” Behre expressed, adding that the department is “quite happy with the response.” The department held three different events last year as part of its inaugural programming on America 250, with lectures on the foundations of the American experiment, the separation of church and state and the origins of basic legal
rights in the United States. This year, the department is continuing its conversation series, with a lecture next Tuesday focusing on women’s engagement with the American experiment. The event will be led by Dr. Anna Lawrence and Dr. Elizabeth Hohl, both faculty members of the history department.
W
e wanted to give students the experience of having the historians they know best, which is their classroom professors, explore American history with them in a very informal, friendly, public way.
Dr. Patricia Behre “We thought it was very important for us to be engaged in that discussion with our students, so as to make the stand for studying all aspects of American history, the comfortable parts [and] the uncomfortable parts,” Behre said when discussing recent developments in how history is displayed across the nation, including last year’s changes at the National Museum of American History on President Donald Trump’s impeachment.