JANUARY 28, 2026 • VOLUME 96 • ISSUE 14
The official student newspaper of Quinnipiac University since 1929
Quinnipiac begins installing fuel cells to create clean electricity
Quinnipiac introduces new campus bookstore
By AVA HIGHLAND News Editor
p. 2 RYLEY LEE/CHRONICLE
QU BIPOC Caucus responds to DHS shootings in Minnesota By LILLIAN CURTIN Opinion Editor
On Jan. 11, Quinnipiac Black, Indigenous and people of color Caucus posted a statement on social media in response to the killing of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. In 2025, a group of Student Government Association senators came together to form the QU BIPOC after sharing their concerns about the lack of representation on campus. The caucus posted the statement “condemning ICE violence and affirming support for all students.” ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good after he alleged that she tried to run him over with her vehicle, claiming self-defense. In response to the killing of Good, the caucus described its reaction as “horrified” and that it condemns “this violence and the systems that enable it. Silence, from any institution or organization regarding an attack on our communities make students feel unsafe.”
Good’s killing “reveals a(n) escalation in the federal immigration enforcement, revealing that the boundary between targeting “violent criminals” and exerting coercive power over the general public has collided,” wrote Kiera Baxter, sophomore political science and economics QU BIPOC Caucus Member, special representation chair and athlete senator for the SGA in an email to The Chronicle. Law enforcement officers may only use deadly force “when the officer has a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person,” according to the Department of Homeland Security. Caucus members don’t agree that this was a case where deadly force was appropriate. “(T)he Good case is part of a structural pattern where federal agencies normalize lethal force in ambiguous situations, and insulate themselves from accountability, creating a scary effect on political participation that is especially relevant to
students, who are historically central to protest, documentation and political mobilization, yet now face a reality in which even passive presence can be considered as obstruction or danger,” Baxter wrote. Good was an American citizen, but the caucus says it doesn’t matter to ICE anymore. “(T)he Renee Good case just exposed a deeper crisis of democratic legitimacy in which the citizen/non-citizen distinction no longer functions as a safeguard, state violence increasingly resembles political domination rather than law enforcement, and students must recognize that what appears to be an immigration issue is in fact a warning about the future trajectory of state power, civil liberties and the fragility of democratic constraints in the United States,” Baxter wrote. “ICE is simply fueled by hate and being against ‘violent criminals’ was a ploy for something deeper,” junior film, television and media arts major, SGA sophomore
OPINION
ARTS & LIFE
P. 5
As part of a clean energy initiative, Quinnipiac University is installing fuel cells across all three campuses to create clean electricity. Each unit produces 460 kilowatts of energy through a chemical reaction, converting natural gas into electricity. “So, it’s a clean way of making electricity from gas versus burning it like most power plants do,” Sal Filardi, vice president for facilities and capital planning, said. Between the three campuses, 10 fuel cells will be installed — six on the Mount Carmel Campus, two on the York Hill Campus and two on the North Haven Campus. “They’re all connected, and they run in parallel and provide electricity for the campus,” Filardi said. In addition to producing clean energy, Filardi noted that the fuel cells are also cost effective long term. “We’re going to fix a lower cost, and we’re going to fix it for 10 years, and then we have a 10 year option to renew,” Filardi said. “That actually reduces it even further for another 10 years.” Having officially been approved in December, the project is currently under construction. The first fuel cells will be installed on the North Haven campus and are expected to be completed in March. York Hill will follow with an expected completion date in April and Mount Carmel in June. Along with creating electricity, the fuel cells create heat, which will be stored in a central plant. “That will allow us to preheat boiler water, which will save us on the gas cost and heat the whole campus, really,” Filardi said. “So that’s another little perk.” Several other Connecticut schools have already turned to fuel cells for more sustainable energy. Others, like Quinnipiac, are beginning to install them now. This includes the University of Connecticut, which has been using them for years, as reported by CT Insider. Just down the street from Quinnipiac, Hamden High School recently installed its first fuel cell, joining several schools in using renewable energy.
See BIPOC Page 3
P. 8
SPORTS
P. 10
IN THIS ISSUE The Buffalo Bills' window is shrinking while leadership stays comfortable with mediocrity
Diamond painting as a coping mechanism
Four Bobcats set to represent three nations at 2026 Winter olympics