Award-Winning Student Run Newspaper
YOU SPEAK WE LISTEN
Vol. LXIIII • Issue 9
THELOQUITUR.COM
Thursday May 4, 2023
It’s not goodbye: It’s ‘CU’ later
By Eny Martins Staff Writer
The class of 2023 is getting closer and closer to commencement, and Cabrini’s CAP Board plans to send them off in traditional fashion, hosting multiple activities in honor of the senior class’ final days as students. Before graduation ceremonies on May 21, this year’s “Senior Week” will take place from May 15-19, both on and off campus. Each activity will bring its own unique twist, giving the seniors a few special bonding occasions. Detailing the week The festivities kick off on Monday, May 15 with a Truck Fest and cap-decorating event in Grace Hall. “We will have food and game trucks, plus supplies for seniors to decorate their caps with,” said Raina Johnson, assistant director for Student Engagement and advisor of CAP Board. May 16 will bring seniors two events: senior photos and “Painting with a Twist.” “On Tuesday morning from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Cabrini’s own Emily Rowan will be available to take fun graduation photos of the seniors,” said Johnson. “At 3 p.m. in Grace Hall, we are bringing Painting with a Twist to campus, and everything will be provided for the
seniors.” On May 17, the CAP Board hosts a day trip to Baltimore and will also provide seniors with a list of things to do in the city. Attractions such as museums, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the National Aquarium, and a variety of nightlife are only a few activities seniors might enjoy while on the trip. May 18 brings the class of 2023 another trip, this one taking them to Vino Bambino for a wine blending experience. “The seniors in attendance will have a wine tasting and can create their own blend of wine that will be made and available for them after nine months,” said Johnson. “The seniors from the class of 2022 should be getting their bottles soon.” Senior Week will commence with the senior sendoff that takes place on May 19, and it will be hosted by the Alumni Office. From a senior’s eyes Senior marketing major John Ameyaw has high hopes for these events as he wants to enjoy his final days with his peers as much as he can. “Some of the people I call good friends to this day, I’ve known since freshman year, and to be able to share these moments together one more time on this campus will be an emotional yet fun experi-
ence,” said Ameyaw. Even for students who didn’t stay on campus often throughout their four years, these events can be a time to get involved with their classmates. Senior business major Angela O’Brien also gets to relish in these final moments on campus as she hasn’t been to the majority of the events from the CAP board. “I’ve never been one to really stay on campus during the weekends and I never got involved in clubs or anything like that, but I can’t pretend like I never walked past the buildings on campus and wondered how different students are coming together to participate in certain activities,” she said. “It only feels right that I now come together with my fellow classmates in the class of 2023 to partake in as much of these events as I possibly can, and to just have fun and live in the moment during my final week in college.” Not only are these events an opportunity to engage in activities that aren’t always present on campus, but it’s a time where seniors can embrace each other’s presence during the final week and can celebrate the college journey—and its many unexpected turns--they completed together.
Graphic made by Pagie Bowman.
Free speech vs. hate speech: Professor tests the limits By Jason Fridge, Paige Bowman Assistant Podcast Editor, Assistant Managing Editor Is hate speech protected by academic freedom? Former Cabrini professor Kareem Tannous is suing the school to find out. Cabrini hired Dr. Kareem Tannous as an assistant business professor on June 26, 2020. Tannous, a Palestinian-American who grew up in the Philadelphia area, was hired on a tenure track contract to teach business, economics, finance, and accounting. During Cabrini’s annual evaluation of tenure-track professors, Tannous’ contract was renewed for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years. However, while he was under contract as a professor, Tannous was active on his personal Twitter account (@GenerousAdvice) criticizing the state of Israel, the ideology of Zionism, and calling Ashkenazi Jewish people “fake Jews.” A series of tweets between March and May 2022 even made the false claim that Hitler was Jewish, that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is a “Jew war criminal,” that Jewish people are responsible for the Holocaust, antisemitism, hate crimes, and more. On February 2, 2022, Cabrini received a letter from The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia calling out Dr. Tannous’ Twitter account
and flagging his tweets as antisemitic. The letter specifically references Tannous’ tweets on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This letter and an article from stopantisemitism.org labeling Tannous as their “Antisemite of the Week” were sent to Cabrini’s administration in July 2022. According to Tannous’ lawsuit acquired by The Loquitur, interim President Helen Drinan subsequently called for a Zoom meeting with Tannous after receiving this notice. The July 20, 2022 meeting included President Drinan, Cabrini’s human resources director, and a representative of Palestine Legal, Amal Thabateh. After the meeting, Tannous received a letter from Cabrini on August 5, 2022, saying his employment at the university was terminated as of August 12, 2022. Tannous’ firing comes during a time when the Anti-Defamation League, ADL, reported 3,697 antisemitic incidents throughout the U.S. in 2022. This marked a 36% increase from 2021 and is the highest number ADL recorded since 1979. Pennsylvania accounted for 114 of these 2022 incidents. Dr. Ruta Clair chairs Cabrini’s psychology department and serves as
faculty advisor for the Jewish Student Union. She added insight into how Cabrini’s Jewish community is impacted by these recent trends. “There is a cultural kind of comfort with ideas that can be viewed as threatening to the Jewish community,” Clair said. “There’s comfort with antisemitism, unfortunately.” The line for academic freedom A March Philadelphia Inquirer article claimed Tannous planned to file a lawsuit against Cabrini for wrongful termination. In the article, Tannous claimed his personal tweets were separate from his teaching and were an expression of his freedom of speech. “I’m just reporting and showing the world and speaking about the atrocities going on,” Tannous told the Inquirer. “I wasn’t teaching the history of the Middle East, I was teaching accounting.” But if his political beliefs didn’t enter the classroom, they were prevalent online.
Continued on page 2