THE HOFSTRA
CHRONICLE
HEMPSTEAD, NY VOLUME 91 ISSUE 4
TUESDAY April 2, 2024
KEEPING THE HOFSTRA COMMUNITY INFORMED SINCE 1935
NEWS
Students explode with laughter during Sal Vulcano comedy show
OPINION
Gatekeepers and elitists are ruining music
Photo courtesy of the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement Students crowded the John Cranford Adams Playhouse to attend a comedy show by “Impractical Jokers” star Sal Vulcano.
By Frankie DiCalogero SPORTS E D I TO R
Hofstra University welcomed “Impractical Jokers” star and comedian Sal Vulcano to Hempstead, New York, on Wednesday, March 27. The Office of Student Leadership and Engagement (OSLE) organized the event, which took place at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse. Because Vulcano is a fixture and household name in New York and New Jersey, it was an almost immediate sellout of the event. Samantha Diamond, a sophomore television and business major, was thrilled when she discovered she could see Vulcano perform for a second time. “I was like, I can’t wait to see him again; this is going to be so good,” Diamond said. Vulcano opened hot, giving the packed theater a chance to vent to him about everything wrong with Hofstra’s dorms. While it started as a funny opening segment for the comedian to get his feet wet with the crowd, some believed the horror stories told by the students dragged on a bit too long. “I loved it, I love Sal, but I wish we didn’t spend half of his set complaining about the school,” said Craig Mannino, a sophomore English and writing studies major.
Eventually, Vulcano moved on from the impromptu Q&A and began telling hilarious stories that garnered thunderous response from the audience. He told stories about how he doesn’t like to go out anymore, drunken messages he’s sent to Uber, helping his landlord with a potential home invasion and his childhood encounter with the Tooth Fairy. “I thought Sal was really funny,” said Emma Eitel, a sophomore video/television major. “It was a really nice break from my rigorous class and extracurricular schedule to just go out and get a good laugh.” “The show was amazing,” Diamond said. “I even got the opportunity to meet Sal after the show. He was so welcoming and nice.” With recent successful comedy shows featuring Colin Jost and now Vulcano, students are already sharing their thoughts on who they’d like to see come to campus next. “I would love to see someone like John Mulaney,” Mannino said. “I think that would be awesome, but that’s pretty farfetched. Maybe someone like David Cross?” “It probably could never happen, but I’d say Bo Burnham would be an ideal comedian to come to Hofstra,” Eitel said.
Photo courtesy of Austin Neill on Unsplash Gatekeeping music hurts prospective fans of well-known bands.
By Ryan Monke A SSISTA N T O PIN IO N ED ITO R
There is perhaps nothing that irks a music fan more than being
prompted by other fans to prove their allegiance to a particular band or artist. Arguments over being a real or fake fan
cause divisions in communities that should be focused on the exploration and enjoyment of art. Many music fans often become so connected with what they listen to that they become territorial over their favorite bands and artists, feeling the need to gatekeep their favorite music and exclude new listeners who might be just discovering the artist. Many die-hard fans assert what they feel is their superior status by calling into question the validity of other peoples’ fandom, creating a harmful culture of gatekeeping and elitism that is ruining music.
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NEWS
The Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice celebrates its 7th anniversary
Moriah Sukhlal / The Hofstra Chronicle The Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice celebrates seven years of service to the Hofstra community in race and social justice issues.
By Moriah Sukhlal N EWS ED ITO R
Hofstra University’s Student Center Theater was filled with an exuberant crowd on Wednesday, March 13, as faculty and students gathered to celebrate the Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice’s seventh
anniversary and to welcome the new interim dean of the School of Education, Kevin Kumashiro. The Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice has served Hofstra and the local community since its conception on March 8, 2017. According to Jonathan Lightfoot, the cen-
ter’s director and a professor of teaching, learning and technology, the center resulted from the 2016 American Association of University Professors’ contract negotiations. At the time, there were not many faculty members of color employed at Hofstra. “Our appeal to the president and provost at the time was to support our vision of creating a center that addressed that concern by demonstrating to prospective and current faculty that we have the scholarship, the research, teaching and service, particularly when rendered at the intersection of issues of race and racism, diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice for historically marginalized and oppressed peoples,” Lightfoot said.
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