THE HOFSTRA
HEMPSTEAD, NY VOLUME 93 ISSUE 4
CHRONICLE
TUESDAY OCTOBER 28, 2025
KEEPING THE HOFSTRA COMMUNITY INFORMED SINCE 1935
Big Sean hits the stage at Fall Fest
NEWS
“[Fall Fest] is a wonderful community gathering. It’s a great way to bring everyone together and have some fun.”
Poser speaks at town hall
By Anthony Favilla
ASSISTANT OPINION EDITOR
Hofstra University President Susan Poser and other administrators talked to students about ChatGPT Edu, Charlie Kirk and more at Hofstra Town Hall in the Sondra and David S. Mack Student Center’s multipurpose room on Monday, Oct. 20. The administration fielded questions about the school now offering ChatGPT Edu, specifically about what the administration is doing to mitigate its downsides, such as collecting user data and using that data to train its programming. According to Poser, Hofstra negotiated with ChatGPT so that it is contractually obligated not to take users’ data to train its own model. Poser talked about looking to
the future with this move. “We can’t put our heads in the sand about what is going on with [artificial intelligence (AI)] out there,” Poser said. “It’s better to be trained in it, understand it and make your own choices about when to use it and when not to.” According to Jesse Webster, chief information officer for Information Technology Services, there were already 5,000 people who created a ChatGPT account with their Hofstra email. He wanted ChatGPT Edu to be a safer option for students to transfer to, not an effort to add more users to the service. However, students still worry about the possibility of the program “hallucinating” – AI providing misleading or incorrect information as truth. Administrators responded to this by pointing to the AI literacy course
available on Canvas, teaching students about the potential drawbacks and dangers of AI. For Aydan Smith, senior international business major and president of Black Leaders Advocating for Change, this is a good start, but not enough. She suggested a required course, like the mid-semester courses or Title IX training that club leaders receive. “[A course in AI can] give people the skills they need to properly use AI without making them dumber,” Smith said. Poser highlighted that students must always check their sources and not rely on AI as a substitute. “You can’t rely on ChatGPT to plug in a question then print the answer and hand it in as the
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Shaina Skeen / The Hofstra Chronicle
Big Sean headlined Hofstra University Fall Fest for 2025.
FEATURES
This Hofstra life: Richie Castronova
By Madeline Sisk EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Watching Richie Castronova’s eyes light up as he talks is like watching a kid on Christmas: energetic, genuine and full of a passion for life. “I had the privilege of working the [Screen Actors Guild (SAG)] Awards,” Castronova said. It was the moment he truly knew where he belonged and what he wanted for himself. “Watching something I’d been working on come to life on stage was so overwhelming and fulfilling,” Castronova said. “People always say working in media is a thankless job – I was just so full of gratitude.” That moment, seeing Kristen Bell perform a segment he helped write for the Annual SAG Awards, changed everything.
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Susan Poser was available to answer students’ questions at this year’s town hall.
Photo provided by Richie Castronova
Richie Castronova competed on FOX’s debut season of ‘99 to Beat’ alongside his sister.